To Die In Love
by mykonos227
Summary: Bella is a hybrid of unknown origin living at the Quileute Reservation. The Cullens move into town and unintentionally unleash a side of her nature that remained hidden until now and a powerful ability that will attract unwanted attention. Rated T for cursing and may turn to M for violence in further chapters.
1. Prologue

1

Not many people like the dark, they find it threatening but I disagree. For the longest of times there was nothing but the deepest darkness and love, so much love. All I could do was feel and it was wonderful. A touch, for there was a sensation of being held. A sweet smell I strain to remember; A silent cold kiss against my forehead, and a soothing voice that managed to distract me from the urgent yearning that overtook me at times. The thirst. This was all the unpleasantness I knew, it was all the misery I could perceive. Everything else was an enveloping warmth that appeased and pacified me.

"Isabella, Isabella." she whispered, her voice was the only sound I ever cared to listen. I knew that word meant _me_. My thirst was quenched promptly after igniting, with a sweet scented liquid that the arms that held me adoringly provided, so I hardly thought of it until it needed to be satiated again. A world where your needs are met, is a world of happiness. I was happy in this small universe that was my home.

One day, however, there was trembling. I was no longer held, which was a common occurrence. Many times I was left alone before being fed again. This time was different, she didn't come back. I was not afraid, merely impatient awaiting for her return.

I don't see darkness as threatening. When others think of the dark, they think of fear. I think of home.

2.

"I'm on vacation, you know, I don't need this." after hers, that was the first voice I ever heard. A voice that seemed coarse compared to the melodic sound I was habituated to. I was beginning to feel thirsty, and I realized, the cold hard figure that held me snugly by her side was still gone. For a moment I was curious, wondering what the other voices meant, and for the first time, I paid attention to the sounds beyond those I already knew.

"It's probably nothing," yet another voice replied and it was as deep and as hoarse as the other one. "Must be some dead animal rotting. Checking it out will give an old woman some peace, Charlie, it'll just take a second." There were other noises, sequential thumps, brushing of fabric, crunching of grass and the sounds of other creatures: buzzing, crawling and more. At that moment I didn't know what the sounds meant, they were all noise to me.

"You better get me a beer. I did not come all the way to Phoenix to look for dead vermin." There was a sound, a throaty sound in response to that, the voice was now higher in its pitch as it spoke. There was an emotion to it I did not recognize. My curiosity flared and I paid closer attention.

"If it's something cooler than a huge ass lizard, I'll get you a beer." Then an intense interference to my darkness, a loud screech and there was light. I immediately disliked it. It was intrusive, it was blinding, it made everything so sharp and overwhelming.

"Oh God!" the second voice whispered. The emotion was repellent this time and I did not like it. I was suddenly uncomfortable. I yearned not to quench my thirst, but to be held again and taken away from the light.

"What the fuck?" said the first voice. All sound ceased except for that made by their breaths and two thumping sounds that were persistently rising in cadence. I paid attention to them for a moment, noticing how there was an almost indistinct gushing of liquid that accompanied them. More breathing, a whimper and a loud thump. The sound startled me, I was frightened. "Ernie, call for back up, now!" it was too loud, I started to cry.

I could not see anything because of the light, I shut my eyes fiercely. I heard my own cry added to the other noises, it stunned me, too since I had never heard it before. I wanted it to stop but I couldn't help myself. "Ernie! There's something here!" the voice said. Someone approached rapidly and I was too perturbed to pay attention to the sounds around me anymore. Then, I felt someone grabbing me. "It's a... a baby." The first voice said. His warmth and softness was as foreign as his voice. "You're going to be all right. You're going to be fine, honey." The voice repeated over and over again. Whatever was holding me was warm, soft and smelled like the liquid that always satisfied my thirst. I turned towards it. I tried to reach it. I did what I always did, I bit. "Ouch!" the one holding me recoiled. "I guess you're hungry." he whispered, snuggling me closer. "Let's get you out of here."

"Charlie, what is that?" the voice was back, the unpleasant emotion bursting in each word.

"A baby, Ernie, in the middle of all this. Can you believe it?" he complained. We were moving. I opened my eyes, the need to comprehend what was happening, overcame the dread that hindered my behavior. I could see now, but nothing made sense. I closed my eyes, again. I cuddled closer towards the one holding me, managing to ignore the fragrance emanating from him. I would not feed now. I was too confused.

"How many were there, Charlie?" the other voice asked.

"I saw two or three. The baby was in a blanket in the back. I didn't even reach the second room, but the stench was strong, there has to be more." I felt his voice vibrating around my body, as well as the thumping that I now understood came from within the one holding me. We stopped moving when we reached a shade. A warm hand touched my cheek.

"Who would do something like that?" the other one asked. He was closer and I did not like it. I started crying again.

"Shh, shh, honey. It will be fine." He held me closer against him. And I heard something in his voice. An emotion maybe, he was being kind. His warmth went beyond the one I could feel in his body, he was being affectionate to me like the one that held me before him. Regardless of the evident differences, they shared an emotion. I clung to that, the only thing I could recognize. "Whoever it was, they're gone. Let's go wait by the car Ern, I don't want the baby around all of this." It held me closer. I closed my eyes, I was so tired I knew sleep would come soon. I knew I could let go, he would take care of me.

3.

Light wasn't so bad once you got used to it. Neither was Charlie, my father. I'd been right to trust him, once he found me he never let go. I was older now and I knew a lot more things, including that I loved him back.

We lived in Phoenix. We'd stayed in the city despite the fact that Charlie was not from around here. He was from a place called Forks, in Washington. We did go over there every summer though, and I realized I preferred it to the desert. The woods were beautiful, and Charlie's house was not as secluded. In Phoenix, he'd gotten an isolated property for my sake. Close enough for him to work in town but far enough that my interactions with others were limited.

I was different. In a myriad of ways, my dad didn't even know half of it. At first I didn't know, of course, you only notice the peculiarities about yourself once you compare yourself to others. With me it was no different. And like most people, I learned to hide what was not pleasant for others to see. Try as I may, some things were too evident to miss.

"Come on Bells, I'm almost done with my second serving and you haven't even touched your food." We were sitting down by the tiny kitchen table, he always came for dinner and I had a meal prepared. This was Charlie's parenting at his greatest, he loved lecturing me on my poor eating habits. I ate two meals a day and they mostly consisted of candy. It wasn't my fault, I only liked sweet things. And even candy couldn't really satisfy my hunger.

"I already ate while I cooked dad." I said with a smile an innocent look that usually distracted him. Finding that you can actually charm people into conceding your point was quite the discovery for me. He frowned, apparently I was losing my touch.

"Bells, I said I was on board with you being a vegetarian, but you actually need to eat something other than sweets to be one. Don't vegetarians eat that mushy stuff all the time?" I smiled. I became a vegetarian so I could excuse myself from an entire food group.

"You mean tofu?" he nodded distractedly as he took a bite of his steak.

"Yeah, that's it. And I haven't seen you eat any broccoli either." he disapproved. I whined and put some broccoli on my plate. I took a bite. He grinned widely. We ate in silence for a while. I still could hear everything though, his breathing, the food moving inside his mouth, his heart beating. I was just much better at focusing on what was important and tuning the rest out.

"Did you finish your book already?" he asked, always making an effort to make conversation and appear as if he knew what I did when he left for work and I was left behind to do as I pleased. I mostly just read anyway, I never got into real trouble.

"Which one?" He usually thought it took me over a month to read every book, which was a tremendous misconception. His brow furrowed in concentration.

"The one with the crazy man that talks to a skull?" I had to laugh at that.

"Hamlet? I finished it weeks ago. And by the way, I know that _that_ is a cartoon reference." he shrugged and took another bite of his steak.

"I got my point across," I rolled my eyes at him. "Bells, I was thinking, you're going to get your middle school diploma soon." I was homeschooled. "And you know, you're older now, you shouldn't have to be stuck in the house all day."

"What are you getting at, dad?" I drank some grape juice. No amount of juice or any other drink for that matter seemed to do anything to make me feel less thirsty. I'd given up years ago.

"Would you like to go to school in town, with other kids, maybe?" he was anxious. I thought about his proposal, it didn't seem scary. In fact, it seemed exciting. Other people intrigued me. Most of the time I preferred to be alone but sometimes I wanted to go out and talk to someone other than the lady at the library, the man at the bookstore or Charlie.

"Would it be ok if I did?" we never actually talked about how different I was, but I had to ask.

"Yes. We can lie about your age," I raised my eyebrows, Charlie was usually very compliant when it came to rules. I had to be amused even if it was the wrong sentiment in this serious conversation.

"Dad! Look at you! All rebellious and wild. Are we to forget any remnants of respect for the rules that separate us from complete savagery-" he rolled his eyes and quickly interrupted my little speech on morality and wrongdoing.

"If you're going to school you better start talking more like a kid and less like an old lady." I laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll adapt my vocabulary to their sensibilities. I'll even make an effort to learn some slang. I'll be successfully corrupted by the end of the school year. I might even curse." I winked. He was no longer anxious and he had finished his dinner.

"I'm glad you see it that way, honey. I worry that you're not getting involved enough with kids your age because of that homeschool thing." I could hear how guilty he was, I touched his hand.

"I'm great, dad. You've done a great job." He blushed slightly and he smiled. We really were not good at talking about all the emotional stuff. He covered my hand with his nonetheless.

"I'm glad you think so, Bella. I want you to be happy." Charlie was always so unexpectedly sweet.

"I am." there was a brief silence and then I began to get uncomfortable with so much emotion being laid out. "Can I have some ice cream now?" It worked, he laughed.

"Only if you get me a scoop." I did. He was so happy with his banana pudding ice cream he didn't notice when I put away my untouched broccoli.

4.

Jason should've told me. I knew Ernie the longest but that was why I didn't like him. He always acted weird around me. Like he was afraid or something. Even before he said it I could tell he was uncomfortable. I hugged my knees tighter to my chest, it was a good thing he'd made me sit down before telling me the news. I took a cushion and wrapped my arms around it, I wanted to feel some pressure against my chest.

"So you have a choice, but honestly, I would do what Charlie wanted you to do, Bella. Go to Forks, you have family there." he never looked at me as he spoke. He was staring at the floor. I didn't have a family. I had when Charlie was alive. Now he was dead and I was alone. I was an orphan again.

"If I go to Forks, what will happen to all of this?" I said looking around my tiny living room.

"You can take whatever you want, the rest I can sell. I'll just put it all in your account so you can use it up there." I nodded.

"Thank you, Ernie." With his purpose fulfilled, he walked toward the main entrance.

"If you ever need anything, Bella," I didn't need to hear the end of the sentence, it was false anyway.

"Thank you." I interrupted, I knew I'd never see him again. He left. I went to Charlie's room and wrapped myself in his old red flannel shirt. I turned off the lights in the house before returning to his room where I buried myself under his blankets to make it darker. Now I couldn't even see the light from the numbers in his alarm clock. I thought how I should disable the thing, he wouldn't need to get up at five anymore.

I cried as I did my best not to think about anything. I didn't want to think about what had happened, the funeral that would come, or the fact that I would move to an Indian reservation in less than three weeks with people I had only occasionally seen before. I thought about the fabric of his shirt, and his smell. I remembered the exact sound of his heart beating under me the first time he picked me up. I sobbed some more.

I fell asleep at some point, wrapped in the memory of my father. I dreamt of being held by my mother and the song she hummed. I didn't usually want to remember that song, because it made me sad and I had Charlie to cling to, there had been no need to remember. Now that I didn't have him, I could let myself mourn. I woke up with my parents' voices still clear in my head._ Isabella _my mother crooned. _Bells_ my dad said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

5.

I could have lived here, in Charlie's old house, but Billy made it clear that my dad's last request was for me to live with them back at the reservation. No need to discuss it further. Their house was very small but I was used to living in a small place so I didn't mind. Billy was always very nice to me and Jake was around my age. Or at least the age that I appeared to be. I even looked a little older than him.

I was here for a week when the things Ernie sent finally arrived. Jake and Billy offered to help me unpack. It was mostly boxes since I asked Ernie to sell all of the furniture except for my rocking chair. Everything that belonged to Charlie I put in his room, from a big box of files to all his clothes. I still hadn't gotten around to dispose of them.

"Where do you want this?" said Jacob as he stood at the entrance of my dad's house with a box that had 'Kitchen' written in big black letters.

"The kitchen would be fine." I said and he smiled. We had the funeral in Forks so they were with me, Jacob seemed appropriately sad then. But right after that, he'd been smiling all the time. He was just so genuinely cheery.

"Will do!" he said happily and went on to the kitchen. I was deciding where to put some of my books since I had already ran out of space back at the reservation when I heard a loud creaking sound followed by a thump. I followed the sound into the kitchen, Jacob was standing in the middle of the room, still holding the box and one of the counter's yellow doors was on the floor next to him.

"Did that just break?" great, I hadn't been in the house alone for one hour and it was already falling apart. He nodded.

"Just missed my foot, too." he said, still in a good mood. He put the box aside and picked it up. He began moving the hinge that was still attached to it. "The hinge was loose, you might have to change the whole thing." That did nothing to improve my sullen mood. "And that counter top needs to be replaced." I wanted to immediately refute his evaluation, but the hole between the counter top and the sink, made my argument moot.

"Great." I said, loathing the overall decay of insignificant furniture. It was like an omen of bad things to come.

"Don't worry, I can fix it." to my surprise, he wasn't being sarcastic.

"Really?" forever smiling, he nodded.

"Just need some tools and some supplies and we'll be good to go. We can go around the house and see if anything else needs work. That way if you ever want to crash here, you don't have to be afraid that a ceiling tile will drop on your head." For once his enthusiasm seemed to move me.

"That would be great, Jake. Thanks." he grinned widely in response and I realized that that was the most positive thing I had said since I'd been here.

"Come on kids!" yelled Billy from the drivewar where he'd been talking to the moving guys "let's go get some dinner before we head back home, I'm starving!" Jake seemed excited.

"You'll love it, Bella, they have the best Rocky Road ever." I grinned. Genuinely. I followed him out and saw a very impatient Billy gesturing for us to get in the car already.

6.

Charlie's plans to get me to school never came to fruition since by the time my middle school certificate was delivered it was the middle of the school year. We were going to wait until after the summer to enroll me in high school. He died before that happened. Billy however, didn't even think that being homeschooled was an option and enrolled me in Forks High School as soon as he was able. I would go to school in town since he wanted me to be able to socialize outside the reservation. So five months after Charlie's death, I was the new student in Forks High School.

I felt anxious from the moment I was in the parking lot. I had never actually been in a building with so many people at the same time for longer than a couple of minutes. Jake had been teasing me all week, making me even more nervous. Regardless of how amusing it was to be teased and tease him back, now all his jokes were taking a toll on my already faltering confidence. Jake liked to make fun of the big words I used, the fact that according to him I'd read more books than I was required to do in a lifetime and that I never watched television because I found it uninteresting. I knew he liked me regardless, but what if others did not share his opinion and only thought of me as weird?

Billy had given me his old truck as a welcome gift, so I drove it to school. I loved it since I was fascinated by the prospect of having something that was just my own. I went in the building and found the administrative offices easily.

"Hi, I'm Bella Swan." I said to the only person in the small office. She was wearing a purple shirt and I wondered if wearing a sweater would make me look overdressed. I never really minded the weather so I never knew if others were cold or not, I mostly guessed. She watched me curiously and then smiled widely after a brief pause.

"Welcome, Isabella, we've been waiting for you." she said with a smile and pried her eyes away from me. She took a piece of paper from a pile of folders and handed it to me. "Here is your schedule. I need you to ask your teachers on every class to sign it and at the end of the day, I'll take it back." I nodded, taking the paper.

"Thank you." I said and turned around. I hadn't completely stepped outside of the office when someone approached me.

"Hi!" He greeted me looking too perky for a Monday morning. I turned towards him and forced a friendly smile.

"Hello." His eyes widened a little and he was quiet for a long time.

"I'm Eric, you must be Bella." he stretched out his hand and I took it. He seemed nervous, a little fidgety. He looked at our hands. "You have very warm hands." Before I had time to panic about him noticing that, I noticed he was smiling widely. "Nice." he said and dropped my hand. "Come on, I'll show you where your first class is." I followed him and relaxed. So far, so good.

Maybe school wouldn't be so bad. People were staring, but then again, it seemed appropriate since I was new to the school. The rest of the day I met more people, they were all very friendly. I particularly remembered three girls, Jessica, Angela and Lauren. And aside from Eric, a boy named Mike that took over Eric's job of showing me the school as soon as we were introduced.

When I made it home, Jake surprised me by making dinner to celebrate my first day of school. He made pasta and salad but the best part was the dessert, he got some more of my favorite ice cream and a huge box of licorice just for me. Billy on the other hand, wanted to hear all about my day. We ate, played monopoly and then Jake and I watched TV before bed. These things reminded me of Charlie. I fell asleep with my head leaned on Jake's shoulder, I was already more content than I thought I would be again. People were not as scary as I'd thought, I realized with shock that I was looking forward to what lay ahead. 


	2. Chapter 1

1.

I woke up eight minutes before my alarm went off. I hadn't slept so well last night and I knew I was just being stubborn; I didn't want to go to school. My initial excitement lasted exactly five months, then it turned to boredom. I realized that the curriculum was less than stimulating, I knew most things already. My interactions with my classmates provided most of my entertainment.

At first it was all excitement and politeness, everyone was very nice to me. Then time went on and I gravitated towards the people whom I actually liked like Angela and Mike. Jessica and Lauren were another story, they were very capricious. Or total bitches. Jake was still doing his best to teach me to speak like a seventeen year old, he called it normalizing.

"Come on, Bella, breakfast is getting cold!" Jake shouted from the kitchen. The only reason why he woke up so early and cooked at all was because of his insatiable appetite. His stomach roaring was more effective than my alarm clock.

I finally sat up. My room was a rectangular bedroom, with a tiny bed, an old red kid's dresser and piles of books on the floor supported by the walls and barely any room to walk. I could've gotten a larger dresser but I needed the books a lot more than clothes. For that purpose, I had appropriated the linen closet outside the bathroom. Billy and Jake got used to storing the towels in their rooms. Somehow I'd also managed to fit in a tiny purple night table that held my cell phone and a single picture. A framed Polaroid of Charlie with a big smile on his face, he'd caught a large fish. Every morning I woke up to it and smiled. _I love you_, the only thought in mind.

I dressed quickly, as usual, jeans and a t-shirt would do. I'd just grab a jacket on the way out so Billy didn't go on about me catching pneumonia for not wearing a coat. My fifteen printouts of how you don't catch pneumonia from the cold but because of a virus did nothing to dissuade him from lecturing me.

"Want some pancakes, gorgeous?" Jake wiggled his eyebrows as he spoke as I walked in the half living room half kitchen rubbing my face. The kitchen was small, but whenever Jake was in it, it looked ridiculous. Like an adult playing in a kid's plastic kitchen. He was uncommonly tall for a seventeen-year-old boy. And his pronounced musculature only made him appear older.

"Stop calling me gorgeous, its fucking creepy!" I said loudly with a disgusted expression. Jake laughed.

"Bella! Language!" Billy yelled from the other room and it only made Jacob laugh harder. I smacked his arm when I walked around the bar that divided the kitchen and living room to get a plate, he chuckled, and nudged me in the ribs with his elbow.

"Come on, eat! You'll need your strength for today. I'm sure Mike Newton will be dying to know how you spent your Christmas break. " Of the multiple mistakes I'd made when first learning to interact with Jake, telling him about Mike Newton's interest in me had been by far, the worst one. I had expected some form of chivalry to arise from him, a promise to take action if I was unable to handle him by myself or something alike. Instead, I'd gotten an unspoken promise to never let me forget it.

"Hey Jake," I raised my voice and took the spatula from his hand to put a pancake on my plate "How did your paper end up coming along? It's due today, isn't it?" Jacob's eyes widened. Billy heard of course. "I thought you said it was half of your grade." I added that to instigate a sense of urgency. It worked.

"Jake? Did you finish that paper?" Billy said from his room. In the early hours of the morning, Billy Black was nothing but a voice in the other room to us.

"Yeah, dad, I just need to print it out!" he was a poor liar when he was surprised. He shot me a glare and I took a very unattractive mouthful of pancake smeared with syrup. There was a pause, eternal to Jake, as we waited for Billy's verdict. Finally, his calm voice interrupted Jake's obvious search for an excuse in case he demanded further proof.

"Oh, ok son." said Billy. Jacob sighed with relief and spoke in a low voice. I was laughing quietly at his deep blush. He blushed when he was angry or flustered.

"That was low, Bells. What if he'd asked to see it?" he whispered. I could hear him clearly, better than he thought. He tried very hard to not let Billy know what went on at school, that way he could get away with many things. Since I'd gotten here, I'd made sure to use that for my benefit.

"Shut up and eat your bacon, Jake." I said and he smiled. Even when things calmed down at school and I lost the perks of being the novelty, Jake's attitude towards me remained the same. He never seemed to be angry, or not to me at least. He got pretty pissed when Quil and Embry super glued his tools to the bottom of his toolbox. He yelled at them but not at me, even after he found out I'd given them the idea. It made it really easy to like him. Despite all the arguing, which was basically the entire basis of our friendship, he was my best friend. And arguing, made us just, us.

We argued about who was lamer for the duration of our breakfast. Then, we silently made fun of Billy and his humming as he shaved and finally he imitated Sam Uley because he took himself too seriously. He really made me laugh. Time was up though; I had to go to school.

"Have a great day at school, kids!" Billy said as he finally came out of his room. He smelled like toothpaste and aftershave. His dark long hair was still wet from the shower.

"See ya, dad!" waved Jake from the door before slamming it behind him.

"Bye, Billy!" I said and lowered down to kiss his cheek. He smiled warmly at me. I knew he loved Jacob because he was his only son, but in the short amount of time that I'd lived here, he'd developed a deep affection for me. He always wanted a daughter and that was what I was to him. Jacob often complained about the marked preference his father had and I feigned ignorance. I did get the larger piece of cake every time, though. I left the house I found Jake looking under the hood of his car.

"Your piece of crap broke down again?" I said triumphantly. It was another one of the many ongoing arguments we shared.

"Don't call her that!" he was always offended when I spoke badly of his car.

"Again, calling your car 'she' is not only disturbing but disgustingly sexist." he slammed the hood down and threw a self-conceited glance in my direction.

"All done. She's fine." I rolled my eyes at him; there was nothing I hated more than an arrogant fool. I walked towards my truck.

"Sure you don't need a ride?" I knew exactly what he would answer. He snorted.

"I rather walk five miles in the snow than ride that old monster." I gasped, offended.

"He is not a monster!" I softly touched the door of my rusty old truck as I said it, to cover its imaginary ears.

"Great. So you calling your piece of crap a he and covering its ears is not sexist or disturbing?" he knew me too well.

"It's completely different." I mumbled as I got in.

"Sure it is," he mumbled with a wide smile "say hi to Newton for me, Bells." He yelled as I pulled away. I flipped him off and heard him laugh. He was pleased when he coerced me into being crass. He thought it was a sign of victory. Truthfully, I just liked to make him laugh.

2.

I drove into the school parking lot and easily caught the eye of several familiar faces. Most people were still nice to me, but not as expressive as in the beginning. Which was a pleasant change from constantly being the topic of conversation.

I had just parked my truck in my usual spot when I felt it. A bizarre sensation, that I could only compare to that feeling you get when someone is looking at you from a distance. I looked around, there were several people in the parking lot but no one was watching me. The feeling was faint, and so strange I barely had time to recognize it. For as soon as I felt it, my reaction was to repel it, and once this was clear I felt it no longer. I was thinking about it and trying to define what it was when I was interrupted. Mike had a true skill for materializing out of nowhere.

"Hey, Bella!" He looked excited to see me; I made an effort to smile. I would think about the strange sensation later. Being so different from other people, I was used to having to get over weird things fast.

"Hi, Mike." He looked excited, and honestly he wasn't unattractive. I just didn't see him that way. We began walking towards the school.

"How was your break?" I groaned internally. I did not enjoy small talk, least of all when I already knew the answers to all of the questions. I knew that he'd gone with his parents to his aunt's cabin up North. He knew I'd stayed at the reservation with Jake. Fortunately, I managed to find a credible excuse for a change of topic as I looked around in the parking lot.

"Great. Hey, someone got a good Christmas present!" Mike quickly followed my gaze towards the Silver Volvo parked near to the entrance of the building. I'd never seen it before.

"Oh, no, that belongs to the new kids." That was a very good change of subject.

"There are new kids?" This was quite the event, before me, they hadn't had a new student since Mike moved up from California and that had happened ten years ago. Now there were new kids, plural.

"I think so. Three or four. I didn't see them but Tyler did." I nodded. We were already in the building and approaching the classroom. We had English first. I hadn't even opened the door when I heard a loud shrill coming from down the hallway. Both Mike and I jumped, startled.

"Bella!" Jessica said gravely. I turned to her voice as she all but ran towards us, her curly hair bouncing around her head chaotically. I paid attention to her expression, looking for a hint of grief or another intense emotion that was making her sound so shocked.

"Hey, Jess, what's up?" I used more of Jake's vernacular. She stood very close to me, she always did, she had no regard for personal space.

"New students!" The emphasis on the second word was unmistakable. They had to be appealing to her in some way if she was being so dramatic. I suspected at least one of them was male.

"Yeah, Mike said-" I didn't get to finish the sentence. She clutched my arm tightly. Her eyes widening as she spoke every word with great care. Like every one of her gasps was essential.

"No, you don't understand, they're _hot_!" Yes, I suspected as much. I didn't miss Mike's groan next to me. Or Jessica's complete ignorance of his presence, he might as well be somewhere else. He didn't budge though. Mike was very determinate when he wanted to be. I knew that well enough.

"Oh, great! How many are there, again?" She would have the entire report already and even though I could've waited to learn these things myself, it was the only thing that kept me from going over a recap of the holidays.

"Five!" she screeched excitedly, she even gave a little jump. "Three guys and two girls." her eyes now had a dreamy quality to them and Mike rolled his eyes. I was certain their reactions were the consequence of the same piece of information: there were more guys than girls.

"Why are they here, anyway? It's the middle of the school year." said Mike grumpily. He was usually nice to me but he easily lost his patience with Jessica.

"Who cares?" she dismissed him rudely "The important thing is that they are here and according to my sources, they're really, really, really hot." It said a lot about how much attention she paid in English class if that was all the vocabulary she could think of using to express herself.

"You'd say that about any new guy just because he's new." said Mike and Jessica finally looked at him. It wasn't a friendly expression. Time to intervene.

"What do you mean your sources?" Mike looked at me and it was clear he understood deflection when he saw it. He gestured toward the room, letting me know he was going in. We still had five minutes before class.

"Lauren." Just as she said that, her phone vibrated. I stayed closer to her because I had no intention of going in and listening to Mike sulking. She squealed again "Two of the guys are seniors, the other one is a junior!" Her excitement was increasing. Could a person get a stroke from sheer excitement?

"How does Lauren know all of this anyway, did she talk to them?" her thumbs were moving quickly over the keyboard of her cell phone. She would definitely have carpal tunnel syndrome by the end of the day.

"Of course not!" she said aggressively, that tone made me feel really stupid when I first met her. It implied everything she thought was obvious. "She overheard a conversation one of them had with Ms. Cope." Of course she did. I didn't feel so bad for not liking Lauren at present. Mr. Mason opened the door to the room with a look that definitely indicated his vacation was over.

"Are you joining us, ladies?" he sounded tired already and the day hadn't even started. I nodded and went in. Jessica reluctantly put away her cell phone that didn't stop vibrating.

3.

After Trig, Jessica and I had Spanish together. We usually met up in the hallway, and true to our habits she was there. The only difference was that she was hunched over her cell phone with a frown on her face. We walked side by side, she continued to text.

"What's the matter, Jess? Did you see the new kids and turns out that they're ugly?" She would hate them for it if they were. It was just the way she was. We began walking towards the classroom.

"No, everyone agrees they're ridiculously hot," she mumbled, still looking glum. "But Lauren says that they're together." The disgust in her tone baffled me. What did I miss?

"What does that mean?" she sighed, her impatience as evident as her lack of interest in explaining herself.

"Two of the girls and two of the guys are together," I must have missed something in deed, if that meant what I thought it meant.

"Wait, how is that possible? Aren't they related?" For some reason I had assumed they were.

"No, they're actually adopted so it's not really illegal. But they were adopted by the same parents and they live together, how is that not weird?" she was still repulsed. I, on the other hand, was suddenly interested. They were adopted?

"Adopted? By whom?" Five teenagers? I was impressed. I knew I'd been lucky to have Charlie as my dad, getting adopted was not easy.

"The new Dr. in town, a Dr. Cullen. He and his wife adopted them when they were kids. Now that they're older they hooked up, don't you think there should be a law against it?" Trust Jessica to want to separate people that cared about each other simply because they got in her way of getting a handsome boyfriend.

"If they are not biologically related, I don't really see the problem." I said and she pursed her lips and went back to her phone. She always did that when she disagreed with something I said but preferred not to make a big deal about it. Which was often. I wonder why she even bothered to be my friend sometimes.

Jessica was too busy ignoring me to notice my sudden pause, but I couldn't help it. It was the second time today that I perceived something peculiar. But this time, it was not the odd sensation from before. It was a scent. The most fragrant scent I had ever smelled. I was appalled not only by the appeal it held for me, but by the powerful familiarity it aroused. Of all the extraordinary things I was used to feeling, familiarity was not a common one. I resumed my walk but I was dazed enough to run into Jessica when I didn't see her stopping in front of the classroom's door.

"Oh, sorry, Jess." I said and gave a step back. Jessica didn't move, the bell was about to ring. "What's the matter, Jess, get in." I said and when there was no reaction I moved aside and entered the room. Now I knew why Jessica stopped.

He was sitting in the middle of the room, his long legs stretched out in front of him, giving the impression of being very relaxed. Mildly bored, even. He wasn't looking at anyone, but was staring at the pen held in his right hand instead. His skin was abnormally pale. So white and soft in appearance it made me want to touch him to see if he was really soft. His features were long and sharp; he had very defined cheekbones and jaw line. His eyes were a shade of gold I had never seen before and he had tousled bronze hair that looked perfectly disheveled. Overall, it was a very pleasing effect. What a shock, for once, Jessica and Lauren had not exaggerated their evaluation of his appearance.

"Come on, Jess." I managed to regain my composure and nudged her in the right direction. She finally woke from her trance and blushed furiously as she walked to the back of the classroom where we usually sat. He still didn't look up. My seat was as far from him was the room allowed. He was in the middle right; I was in the far back left.

Señora Goff began her class. She stood in the middle of the room with her black polka dot dress, red heels and a tan that suggested that she had gone to her home country during vacation. If she followed first day back from break protocol, she would be telling us all about it in a minute.

"Welcome, back, guys," said Señora Goff. "And welcome to the new student. Mr." she looked at a piece of paper on her desk. "Cullen." He sat up as the teacher said his name. He was taller than I had initially thought. "Edward Cullen." she said with a wide smile. She looked nervous. I was almost amused by this, because the teacher was being affected by something I was certain every female of the school had already noticed: he was extremely attractive. "Welcome, Señor Cullen. Tell us something about yourself." For a moment I pitied him, having teachers wanting to hear more about you was annoying. "Where did you move from?" I wondered why his answer seemed so crucial to me.

"My family and I recently moved from Alaska." My heart beat faster at the sound of his voice. Again, the familiarity was overwhelming. He had a beautiful voice. Effortlessly musical.

"Alaska, that sounds very interesting!" I kept trying to remember if Señora Goff had ever paid attention to anyone's personal life before and couldn't come up with anything. I mostly remembered her telling us about the new Spanish speaking country she had visited with her husband and their Chihuahua named Taco. "And did you have Spanish as an elective there?" I looked at him and his entire lack of expression.

"Yes." He was curt without being impolite and Señora Goff's attention looked effectively averted. Impressive. She turned to the rest of the class now.

"Very well, as a warm up I want you to write a short paragraph about what you did during the winter break. Then, we can talk a little about what the program will be for the rest of the semester and before the class ends I want you to watch an interview I recorded from the TVE. You have ten minutes to do your writing." Basically, we wouldn't do anything. I focused on writing my paper simply because I didn't want to pay attention to him. When I was finished, I toyed with the pen in my hands and looked around, everyone was still working except for Edward. In front of him, his paragraph already written. I was usually the first one to finish. Señora Goff was partially hidden behind an ancient looking VCR and Television set. She turned it on an off several times, the screen never turned blue. My eyes turned to Edward once more; I couldn't help but feel curious about him.

"Bella, are you done?" Señora Goff asked moving away from the television, I blushed, unable to contain my embarrassment since she'd caught me staring at Edward.

"Yes, Señora Goff." I said and I could tell Edward was looking at me now.

"Very well, can you do me a favor and go to the office and tell Shelley that I do need the other VCR. I couldn't get this one to work." I nodded and went to her, now I_ knew_ he was looking at me. Señora Goff unplugged the VCR and handed it to me.

I didn't look back, but I saw Edward staring intently at me through my peripheral vision. His eyes on me alone were very unnerving. And to make matters worse, the odd feeling from before was back. Only this time, it was a lot more intense. Like feeling someone's gazing directly into your eyes. I rejected the feeling, again, it retreated momentarily only to come back again. It went back and forth, I never let it overcome me. I was almost at the office when it finally ceased, never achieving its purpose. I didn't know which I found more disconcerting, this strange new struggle I just knew was going on solely inside my head, or the fact that I felt so shaken after seeing Edward. Where the rest of the new kids like him?

After returning to class with the chord, I refused to look at him. Edward on the other hand, stared at me the entire time I was at the front of the classroom with a deep frown that I couldn't understand. The bell rang and Edward was one of the first to leave.

People started leaving after him. Jessica, no longer in the presence of Edward, hurried to reach me while she texted. I was certain she was telling Lauren she had just taken Spanish with the future father of her children.

"Oh. My. God." A dramatic pause between each word, this wouldn't be good for me. "Did you see him?" I turned my head to roll my eyes, for some reason I had little patience for this. Of course I had seen him, how could I not?

"Yes, I was right beside you, Jess." And his scent still lingered on the air.

"He is just so..." she trailed off, it seemed that no adjective did him justice. While Jessica stared into the distance, my mind raced. I may not have been planning my wedding to the guy based only in his looks, but honestly, I was curious.

4.

"Do you think they're rich? I bet they're rich, I mean just look at his watch..." Jessica went on like that until we reached the gym. I simply took on the same attitude that had kept our friendship alive for two years. I nodded, grunted and inserted a "Oh, totally," for her benefit every now and then.

"See you at lunch." Jessica barely heard me; she was texting with Lauren again.

Gym was boring but since the only one I shared it with was Mike, it wasn't so bad. I bet he wouldn't want to talk about Edward. Then again, he wasn't the only Cullen at school.

"Cullen, Alice!" Coach Clapp shouted as we got in line for warm up. It wasn't hard to recognize her, she would have stood out in the middle of a hundred people. Unlike her brother, she was tiny with delicate elfin features. And very much like her brother, she was outstandingly beautiful and had intriguing golden eyes. She moved gracefully from the back of the room to the line.

Everyone inside that gym threw a curious glance in her direction at least once, yet no one talked to her. Which was odd because on my first day of school, a lot of people struck up a conversation on the silliest premises. Coach Clapp asked us to find a buddy for badminton. Mike usually was my partner, but when I saw that irremediably no one was approaching Alice Cullen, I stepped up. A strong sense of camaraderie for the new girl who also happened to be adopted moved me to be outgoing.

"Hi, Alice, I'm Bella." I said with a smile and she immediately smiled back. Her beauty was undeniable. I saw Mike stopping mid step.

"Hi, Bella." she said with a voice that like her brother's, tugged at my memory. Her scent was also delightful, if not as appealing to me as his had been.

"Want to be my partner?" She looked around with child like wonder.

"I thought you were with that guy," she pointed discreetly to Mike who looked really sullen as he stood next to Ben Cheney.

"Mike? He'll do fine without me for a day." she smiled widely and Coach Clapp called for our attention. We were handed out birdies and rackets and specific instructions that everyone forgot the second the Coach stopped talking and then we were off. Sports were boring as there was nothing to them, really. Alice served first and soon we were having the most perfect match of badminton I had ever had. She was really good, perfectly balanced.

"You're good!" I said as I hit it back effortlessly. She was very perky; she had barely stopped smiling all the while. She vaguely reminded me of Jake's unwavering enthusiasm.

"Thanks, you too!" she answered and we continued in silence. I didn't want to overwhelm her with questions, but it was very curious. And to be honest, she seemed a lot more accessible than her stoic brother.

"Did you play much in your old school?" she shook her head.

"No, we were only required to do two years of P.E. in Alaska. And my brothers, well, they prefer other sports to badminton."

"Like what?" What kind of sport was available in Alaska?

"Like hiking. We love to hike." she said with an easy smile.

"Now help me out, which ones are your brothers?" I asked honestly, enough with the confusion and bits of overheard conversations. She laughed, her laughter was like a torrent of bells.

"It is a bit confusing, there's just so many of us." she said and served again "My brothers are Emmett, who is a senior, and Edward, who is a junior like us." I answered her serve easily.

"Yes, I had Spanish with him earlier." She smiled in approval.

"We were adopted first and then our father adopted Rosalie and Jasper, the twins. They're both seniors." I had not seen them yet. Or Emmett.

"That is so nice of him, to adopt all of you." I really was impressed.

"He is a wonderful man." she said "And Esme, our mom, couldn't have children. It was very easy for her to take us in, she is like a true mother to us." I smiled; I'd never actually had that. "How about you, do you have any siblings?" she asked and until her curiosity betrayed her, I didn't realize that her smiling face was almost as indecipherable as her brother's seriousness. It was hard to discern what they were really thinking. Right now, I knew her curiosity was authentic.

"I guess you could call Jake that, he is a pain, as any brother ought to be." She smiled at that "but no, I was an only child. When my dad adopted me, I was all by myself." She had stopped smiling now and looked focused.

"You are adopted as well?" she said with enthusiasm, I was excited to meet someone adopted, too. "That's amazing!" it wasn't really, but when you meet someone you share something so important with, it kind of feels like it is. "Did your parents adopt someone else? Or who is Jake?" she said confused. It was kind of confusing.

"Ok, my dad adopted me but he recently passed away and now I live with his friend Billy and his son Jake. I have for the past two years." She stopped playing altogether.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry." to my surprise, her sorrow was genuine. She did feel bad. And for some reason, there was a sense of kinship that I felt with her that I hadn't felt before. I guessed it had to do with the fact that we had some things in common.

"It's all right, it was a couple years ago. And life with Billy and Jake at the reservation is quite great." If possible, her curiosity grew in that instant. Her eyes widened slightly.

"You live at the Indian Reservation?" I nodded. "Wow, Bella, you sure are interesting." she said with a look that I knew I couldn't grasp the meaning of. Then she snapped out of it "But listen Bella, if you ever need to talk about what happened, I know what its like to lose your parents. To feel like you don't belong." I smiled genuinely.

"Thanks Alice, that's very nice of you." she beamed at me.

"And of course, since you know Forks better than I do, you need to tell me where we can go shopping!" My elation was extinguished.

"Why, Alice? I was just starting to like you." I said with feigned disappointment. She seemed completely unconcerned with my antics. She smiled wickedly. The bell rang.

"I am serious. A girl's gotta shop, Bella. Whether she likes it or not." I rolled my eyes at her. The threat in her words sounded real.

"If you're going to force me to shop at all, I demand compensation. For every store you take me to, we will spend twenty minutes at a bookstore." She frowned.

"Five." She negotiated quickly.

"Eighteen." I was unmovable when it came to bookstores.

"Ten." she was quick.

"Fifteen and that's the best you can hope for." She gauged my expression.

"Deal." We both smiled. I don't think I had ever felt so comfortable with someone new before. We changed and walked out of the locker rooms together. She looked at my clothes, now that we were out of the infernal yellow sports attire, and shook her head."Let me know about that shopping trip." I must like her, I didn't find her obvious criticism annoying.

"Fine, but remember, fifteen minutes!" I said as she walked away and she giggled. I had the certainty that she had no intention of keeping that promise. I smiled.

Government went in a blur and finally, it was time for lunch. Not that I enjoyed pretending to eat something other than pop tarts, but it would be a nice break. I entered the cafeteria a little late and went towards the line to get lemonade. It took me a second to realize why everyone kept looking towards the end of the room. The Cullens were all assembled there. All five of them and they were quite a sight to behold.

"Intimidating, aren't they?" said Angela as she took her place behind me. I smiled. She wasn't so far off the mark. I realized now that the friendlier looking ones were Edward and Alice. The other three were another story. I could guess which one was which with the little information Alice provided. Rosalie and Jasper were both blonde, and most likely the twins. Rosalie was an exceptionally beautiful blonde girl with a body that I knew would torment the minds of the entire student body for months to come. Jasper on the other hand, I found very disturbing. He was handsome, indubitably, but he also was covered in scars and look very menacing. Did anyone else not see that? The answer was probably no, since I'd barely seen them, so I mentioned nothing. Emmett was huge, bigger than Jake in the muscle department. He must be Alice and Edward's brother. They all shared the same pale skin and golden eyes, and even without being in proximity I knew they must share other peculiarities with the siblings I had previously met. My curiosity raged, but fortunately so did everyone else's so I did not have to be interested in them for other reason than their good looks and recent arrival.

Angela and I walked back to our table, she had stopped looking in their direction because it was just not the way she was and I did the same. All around me, everyone was discussing them.

"Bella!" Jessica shouted before I reached the table.

"What's going on, Jess?" Like I didn't know. Lauren was sitting right beside her, and she was actually acknowledging my existence by looking at me today. I wondered why that was.

"Mike says you were talking to one of them!" I threw a betrayed look in Mike's direction who suddenly seemed very busy with a piece of paper Tyler was showing him.

"Yeah, so?" Lauren rolled her eyes. Now I knew why she was here.

"What do you mean? Tell us everything! Did she tell you something interesting?" she asked desperately.

"I don't know Jess, we just talked. But if you are so curious, you should go up and talk to them." Both Lauren and Jessica rolled their eyes at me at the same instant. Angela giggled under her salad; she found it amusing when people were being absurd. But my attention was not focused on them.

I was sitting with my back to the Cullens because I knew that was the only way to not stare at them the entire time. But I knew where they were, and I could hear them. I didn't usually indulge in eavesdropping, but I needed to know. The problem was, they weren't talking.

"Hey Bella!" Eric said happily as he sat next to me. I smiled at him, all ready to hear him babble on, but then I heard something else.

"Bella, her name is Bella." said Edward. I heard his voice as clearly as if he was sitting right next to me. Why was he speaking? No one asked him anything. I was sure that even if I hadn't heard any of his siblings before I would know their voices immediately.

"And then we went to Minnesota, Bella," I hadn't realized Eric was still speaking. "Bella are you listening?" he said and I gave him another smile that attempted to distract him.

"Yeah, of course Eric, go on." I said and he didn't need a second invitation.

"I don't know." Edward spoke again and his voice sounded frustrated, irritated even. And then, the weird feeling from before was back. Now that I'd felt it before, I pushed it away easily. It lasted for a while, it wouldn't let out.

"Nothing." Edward said. For the wildest of moments, I wondered if he had anything to do with it. There wasn't time to determine that, the bell rang.

5.

"Hey, Bella, so my parents and I are going to the cabin this weekend," this was a new record, Mike usually waited until the end of the week. "And I was wondering if-" I already had an excuse.

"Sorry, Mike, Jake made me promise that I'd help him with his Chemistry project this weekend." He nodded, shrugging it off.

"No worries, then maybe next time." he said, and we'd reached Biology. And so had Edward Cullen. He was sitting right behind Mike's seat. I knew because I sat right next to him, we were lab partners. He looked as relaxed as he had in Spanish. But that of course, lasted until he saw me. He didn't even try to be discreet, he looked directly at me. Again, he frowned.

Mike was not happy to see Edward for some reason. It was official, guys were insane. Mike didn't like Edward and apparently, Edward didn't like me. And why was he talking about me at lunch? I took my seat and felt his eyes still boring into the back of my neck. If he had a question, why not just ask?

And just as swiftly as before, it was back again. The intensity of the strange feeling was growing, but as if provoked by the challenge, my determination to keep it at bay grew as well. It had to be related to him, I was almost certain. I didn't know why, it just felt like it did. Whatever it was, and if it was he who was doing it, I wasn't going to budge.

He went on like that for the entire hour. By the end of class I was almost tired, not because it wore me out at all to push the feeling back, but because since I had decided to associate it with Edward I'd been thinking about him for the entire duration of the class. Forget about Mr. Banner's lecture on cellular reproduction. When the bell rang Edward left quickly. For some reason I found that incredibly annoying.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I really wanted to go home now.

"Hey Bella! Don't forget about tomorrow, my mom is making meatballs!" shouted Angela when she spotted me on the parking lot.

"Tell the twins I'll bring candy!" she immediately frowned.

"No more candy, Bella, not after last time!" so what if I'd given them their weight in gummy bears and they had thrown up all night? They'd seemed to enjoy it while it lasted.

"But they love it!" I whined and she rolled her eyes at me before getting into her mom's old van. I waved goodbye as she pulled away. When she did, the silver Volvo was visible. Alice was there, leaning against it, looking at Jasper who looked miserable. Alice on the other hand was smiling. I didn't eavesdrop though, I'd felt bad before and didn't want to do it again. Suddenly Alice caught my eye and waved at me with a wide smile on her face. I couldn't help smiling back and waving, although I was terrified of Jasper who was now looking at me. He gave a stiff nod in my direction and I answered the same way. How could Alice not be terrified of him? I was still watching them when Edward came out of the building. I looked away and got on my truck. I didn't want to admit that I was avoiding making eye contact with him, but I was. I just didn't understand why.

Mercifully, I reached home twenty minutes later. Jake was there, sprawled on the love seat that was all the sofa we had, he was watching something with cars in it. I had no idea what it was. I dropped my bag on the floor and went around the couch to push his legs away and sit down. I felt exhausted for some reason. Jake moved and put his legs on the coffee table in front of us, he was sitting now and his right arm was on my shoulders.

"Rough day?" he asked, taking his eyes off the screen for a second to look at me. I wanted to tell him all about the Cullens, but not right now. I wanted to spend at least an hour without thinking about them before getting into details. Jake would want to know everything.

"Just long." I sighed and then looked around, noticing what I should've noticed right away.

"Where's Billy?" Jake shrugged.

"He left a while ago, there was an emergency meeting or something." I turned to look at him.

"Since when do they have Emergency councils?" He chuckled.

"Since their arch enemies moved back into town." I stared at him in confusion.

"What? What are you talking about?" He sighed; he looked more tired than I felt.

"Some family moved into town, they're not happy. They are having a special assembly to address the issue," his last words were mimicking his father's grave voice. "I'm telling you, dad looked like he was going to pop a vein. I don't get what the big deal is."

"Jake, you're not making any sense." I said impatiently and just as he was about to answer back, I heard Billy's chair up in the driveway. I got up, too curious to wait. Harry Clearwater was pushing him in, I opened the door widely to let them in. Jake wasn't kidding, his father was angry. Even Harry Clearwater looked grave.

"Bella, I'm glad you're here. I need to speak to you." I was nervous now.

"What's wrong Billy?" I asked once he was in the house. Harry went to the kitchen and got a glass of water. Jake turned the TV off.

"Nothing to worry about." I didn't believe him. "But as of tomorrow, you are no longer going to school in Forks anymore. You will go to the school here, in the reservation." I couldn't understand what he was saying. Mostly, because it made no sense. All of this could not be happening because of the Cullens.


	3. Chapter 2

1.

No one talked for a moment while we assimilated the meaning of what Billy had just said. I was stunned into silence; my mind struggled to find a reasonable explanation for what was going on. Jake's confusion gave way to incredulity almost at the same time as Harry looked inadequate. He'd drank his water and now he wanted out; He knew this was a private conversation. Since no one spoke, he saw an opening to leave.

"I'm going to head out, Billy." He nodded in our direction as a good bye. The tension grew as we heard his heavy steps on the gravel slowly fading away. Jake got up from the couch and stood beside me, partially leaning on the back of the couch.

Billy looked at me first, expecting a reaction. I decided that it was best to understand his reasons before entering an argument, I didn't need to get aggravated in advanced. Jacob on the other hand, was already irritated. I knew why. Regardless of Billy's reasons, Jake knew they had to do with the tribe's matters. Whenever something happened that pertained to the tribe, Billy and Jake stood on different grounds. Billy was all about tradition and repeating patterns. Jake believed the chief elders took too many liberties ruling people's lives. It was natural then for Billy to demand more involvement from his son as successor of the Black family line in council and for Jake to rebel at the mere mention of entailed responsibility. And surely, on this stance Jake would make any argument that involved me about him. I disliked their disagreements, so my best resource was to keep Jake out of it.

"Why the sudden change, Billy?" my voice was light in an attempt to take the seriousness out of the situation. Although it seemed strange to me since he'd been the one adamant on having me study at Forks in the first place. Fortunately, Billy recognized my efforts by answering with the same intonation. Though I was certain he was masking the depth of his resoluteness, for Jake's sake.

"I just don't think that Forks High is the right school for you anymore. Some things have changed and we have to adjust to those changes accordingly." He was humoring me as Jake's tension was growing. He was just waiting for an excuse to snap at his father. I needed to speed things along.

"Are you referring to the family that moved into town?" If it was about the Cullens, I wanted to know now. His expression darkened and it was difficult for him to maintain a lighthearted tone.

"Yes. The Cullen family," I did not miss his inadvertent emphasis on the last word. "They are not the kind of people I want my children around of. So I think it's best if you go to school in the Reservation." That wasn't an explanation.

"Why is their company so undesirable?" Billy's expression was slowly losing its equanimity, he was turning obstinate. I was so aware of Jake's mood that I could almost hear him shouting in his head at his father.

"Unfortunately, Bella, that is not something I am in liberty to share." I recoiled slightly at the clear separation he'd made. He sometimes did that, I wasn't a Quileute and certain things didn't apply to me. Jake snapped.

"That's just great, dad!" he raised his voice. "It totally makes sense that you're pulling her out of school in the middle of the school year and you're not even telling her why. Who cares if she has to start all over again?" Billy was used to Jake's theatrics so he dealt with him with aplomb. "Forget about her life, her friends." he enlisted bitterly. I had thought of all of those things myself, but my concern over those matters felt short compared to my wonderment about the Cullens and the chaos that their presence was causing. And they had only been here for a day. Billy interrupted his son's rant.

"Jake, there's no need to make such a fuss. Bella is a bright girl, she can easily keep up with the program and as far as friends go, she'll have you there! Weren't you complaining for months because you wanted her to be in your school?" Even if he had wanted it, he would deny it in the middle of an argument just to thwart his father's resolution.

"I'm not her only friend dad! Her world doesn't revolve around the Reservation! She has the right to get out and meet other people. She shouldn't have to be surrounded by us all the time." I folded my arms across my chest. The focus of the argument was shifting.

"Why not? We are her family and family stays together." He stated solemnly. I could not fathom what he meant. "When something threatens your family-" Jake straightened up at that, he was no longer leaning on the back of the couch with me. He was quite imposing when he was angry, many would back out from his sheer size alone.

"Threatens? They didn't do anything! You're just prejudiced against them because of some stupid stories." And that was when any remnant restraint left Billy. Even I knew he'd gone too far.

"You will not speak to me like that, Jacob." He wasn't precisely yelling, but his anger was so plainly written in his face that Jake reluctantly returned to his place beside me. He knew he'd messed up so he crossed his arms across his chest and listened respectfully to his father. "If you disagree with the way I see the world is one thing, but you will not speak like that of the tribe's heritage. I will not have it." Jake's anger receded slightly, but he was stubborn, he couldn't keep his annoyance out of his apology.

"Sorry, dad. I didn't mean what I said." I saw his jaw tightening. He'd meant every word. I looked from Jake to Billy and noticed he wasn't looking at us anymore. One word kept bouncing on my head: threat. Billy took a moment to calm himself down, if he continued the argument we would never get to anything. While he looked down, I put a hand on Jake's forearm, he knew what I was asking and he began to calm down, an apologetic look on his face. I dropped my hand before Billy saw.

"Now, Bella, do we agree that it is best for you to switch schools?" I was usually compliant, but I refused to believe I was entirely submissive.

"I'm sorry Billy, but no. I don't think there is any need for me to leave the school." Billy looked displeased and Jake kept his head low to hide his arrogant grin. He loved it when I disagreed with his dad; it was uncommon enough that he enjoyed it when he could.

"But Bella," Billy began, his tone radically different. To me he was fatherly and pleading.

"I understand that you consider that the new students pose a threat to my safety." The fact that I agreed with his groundless accusation was implicit for his benefit. "But there is no need for me to have anything to do with them. I don't think it necessary for me to rearrange my life for their benefit, unless you fear that they will be overtly aggressive with me." If that was his suspicion he would have to enlighten me further. I was hoping he would.

"No, I don't believe they would deliberately harm you." He reluctantly admitted.

"Then I think we can coexist without trouble. Like Jake said, I wouldn't really appreciate the change at this point in the school year. We're about to start final projects and I already have assigned partners. And as you already know, I'm tutoring Angela in Biology. I wouldn't want to leave all of those people hanging if I can help it." Reasoning with adults was far more efficient than Jake's approach. Throwing in their faces that you were responsible worked too. "But if you think that it is still not satisfactory, Billy, I will do as you say." Billy gauged my expression. I was firm but obedient. I was also bluffing but he didn't need to know that. Jake did know, though, he'd taught me how to bluff.

"When you put it that way," he paused and looked down, his certainty had faltered slightly "Are you sure you will be able to stay away from them?"

"Yes. They ignore everyone for the most part, so it shouldn't be too difficult." I knew very well how to dabble between truth and lies. It was simply a part of my life, and it was a skill that I sometimes was able to use to my advantage. Not that I enjoyed it. Billy took his time to ponder my offer. I was already planning what I would do if he asked me to switch schools. Not that I would be happier in Forks but at least over there I didn't stand out as much. It surprised me to find that there was some resistance on my part. I would prefer to stay where I was.

"All right. But if they ever approach you, or if they ever say anything to you, we will have to make some changes." I nodded, looking stern and judicious. Jake knew that look as well and he looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. "I'm tired, kids. I think I'm going to lay down for a moment." said Billy, all the emotion had drained him. If he'd been as passionate here I wondered how the council had been. Jake didn't make a move to help his dad so Billy wheeled himself to the other room. The door hadn't even closed and Jake was already giving me an inquisitive look.

_Shut up_, I mouthed, and nodded to the front door. It would be better if we didn't talk about this here.

2.

"You are so full of it!" He said loudly once we were away from the house. "And you're a kiss ass, too!" We followed a dirt path towards a small self-service store that was right next to the only gas station in the reservation. We always got snacks there after school when we wanted to talk away from Billy.

"Desperate times..." I trailed off;, he knew the rest of the expression. "Besides, it was way better than throwing a fit." I said with a little smile that he responded to with a glare.

"That's how you're supposed to react. Remember, Bella? We're seventeen, not forty." This could easily turn into one of his normalizing lectures. I wasn't in the mood.

"That's what they expect, Jake. As you may have noticed your dad didn't have difficulties getting pissed. You're supposed to reason with them to get your way." He shook his head.

"I don't have it in me to reason with Billy. Not when he's being so..." he never actually insulted his father. I liked that about Jake. It didn't matter how angry he was; He respected him too much for that. That was the one thing that always made me certain that things would get better, Jake would never do anything to hurt his dad. It was also why I worried about Jake, he would have a really hard time when it came to deciding what he wanted to do with his life. He would either take his place in the community, or refuse and hurt his father badly. And if he hurt Billy, he would hurt himself. I'd often thought of a way out of that, but I never found anything.

"What's his problem anyway? Why is he hating on the new kids?" It made no rational sense. They couldn't have done anything in a day's time to arouse such a reaction from Billy and I assumed the others. But they had just moved, hadn't they? What did he mean earlier when he mentioned the stupid stories? Jake shook his head in disbelief.

"Because of some stories from the tribe. The Cullen's have actually lived in the neighboring lands before. But it was a long time ago. My guess is that they had some issues with the tribe way back, but it's been so long that everyone forgot what the whole argument was about. And since they don't remember anymore but they still hate them, they came up with a bunch of stories about it and now, we are prejudiced against their kid's kids." That made no sense either but I knew better than to correct him.

"What kind of stories?" Why didn't he just come out and say it? The store was visible now.

"Bella, I would tell you, but they are so embarrassing that I'll spare myself the pain." He was being serious; the stories must be absurd.

"Then if they're so stupid why do people believe them?" He frowned, his face now disgusted.

"I don't know. That's why I came up with the whole forgotten argument thing. It's better than admitting to myself that I actually belong to such a superstitious lot." We'd reached the store. "Damn, I'm starving." He groaned and went in the store, the door hitting the bells hanging over the doorframe. "Hey, Frank!" he said to the man behind the counter. Frank never said hi, so Jake always greeted him effusively. He mostly ignored us, and watched baseball on his tiny black and while television. The only time you got a reaction out of him was when you didn't give him enough money. Which of course was something Jake did often just to mess with him.

Jake's definition of a snack and mine differed greatly. For me a snack was a box of Milk Duds. For Jake it meant three hot dogs and a large soda. I'd often done the math in my head and I was pretty certain that more than forty percent of Billy's money went to Jake's stomach.

"Are you going to finish those?" Jake asked right before we reached our spot on the beach. We always hung there, even if it was cold like today. I looked at the half emptied box. Jake looked famished, as if he hadn't eaten in months. I threw them at him.

"You don't even like them." I mumbled, eating my last fistful. He shrugged as he practically inhaled them.

"They're all right." Which meant that if he could chew it he would eat it. You could barely walk in La Push Beach without bumping into someone you knew. So if you wanted to go about your business without your parents finding out before you had time to reach your home, you were forced to find a discreet location. That's what Jake and his friends had done. It wasn't unusual to find them gathered behind the large log that provided the only shelter from prying eyes. Like now, before we reached it we could already hear Quil and Embry's loud voices.

They were laughing at something when we got there, when they saw us they stopped talking. "Bella! Just the girl we needed to see." said Embry and Jake narrowed his eyes. He was unnecessarily protective of me.

"Hey, guys." I greeted them, I hadn't seen them in a couple of days. "What can I do for you?" I said and sat cross-legged against the log; Quil was on my right leaning on a rock. Jake sat next to me. This was quite the reprieve from a very strange day. Surely revisiting old familiar conversations would appease me.

"Did you get a good look at the freaks today?" Or not. Of course I knew whom they meant. They were always offending everyone. Not me, since they were afraid Jake might beat them up, but everyone else.

"Not you, too." I groaned. "Is everyone in this place obsessed with the Cullens?" Quil and Embry looked at each other.

"Yeah. I hadn't even crossed the doorway and my mom was already yelling at me not to be messing around in their lands. She even threatened to send Sam on me!" He laughed out loud but I felt Jake stiffening beside me. He didn't like to talk about Sam with them. Unlike Jake, Sam was more than ready to take his spot in the community. To the point that he patrolled the streets of the Reservation telling people what to do and keeping kids out of trouble. It got in Jake's nerves, especially when Billy encouraged him to look up to him.

"My dad said that no matter how beautiful, I was not allowed to get anywhere near the girls." Quil and Embry laughed, Jake just snorted. What did they know about them being beautiful?

"Are you guys going to tell me why the Quileutes hate them so much? Jake won't share!" I complained. Quil looked more than willing to share and opened his mouth to begin. Embry put an arm on his shoulder to stop him from speaking.

"If Jake won't share with you, Bella, what makes you think we will?" I crossed my arms. This was too much.

"That's it, if you don't tell me, I swear I'll tell Leah Clearwater what you did to all that crap she threw away after she broke up with Sam." My threats were not void and the three pairs of wide eyes that stared at me in terror.

"You _wouldn't_." Jake was the first to narrow his eyes. We were all afraid of Leah's rage.

"Try me. I'm sick of all of this fuss, just tell me what the hell is going on!" Embry sighed.

"God, Bella, chill!" but he was still amused. "No need to get all PMS on us." I glared. Badly. Embry gulped.

"Please, won't you let it go? It's not a big deal." said Jake. I turned to look at him in disbelief.

"Your dad wanted to pull me from school, but it's not a big deal?" Embry and Quil looked impressed.

"He wanted you to switch schools because of the leech-" Jake yelled at him.

"Embry! Fuck man, do you ever think before blurting out crap?" His reluctance to share with me had me wondering if this was more than just embarrassment.

"Just tell me Jake," and then I recurred to a behavior that I don't condone: emotional blackmail. "Don't you trust me?" He groaned and Quil chuckled. Embry snorted. These were the things that had them joking about Jake and I being like an old married couple. As weird as the suggestion was.

"I do! It's just..." I crossed my arms, waiting for the brilliant excuse. "Fine!" he said angrily "If you want to hear it, I'll tell you. But I swear the moment you start laughing, I'm stopping and you'll have to get one of these two idiots to tell you." Quil frowned.

"Hey!" Embry protested.

"Shh, Embry." I said quickly, "Go on, Jake."

"Ok so," his cheeks were already turning red and he hadn't even started. The other two gathered to hear the story that I knew they had heard a hundred times. "You know how I've told you that in our tribe we believe we're descendants from wolves?" Embry let a nervous laugh escape.

"You know you're violating the treaty right?" Jake gave him a glare that effectively silenced him. Quil just giggled.

"Anyway," Jake threw another warning glance "we are descendants from wolves, remember?" I nodded. The figure of the wolf was often used in Quileute art. Billy had several paintings around the house depicting wolves hunting. There was even one in his room that I remembered most. A large black wolf leading his pack. "Well, there is only one enemy known to our people, the whole reason why we have the treaty. We made it to protect ourselves from the cold-ones." He turned a shade darker, this had to be where it got embarrassing. "They're blood-drinkers," he was looking at me like he was expecting some sort of recognition. I didn't have a clue of what he wanted from me. "You'd know them as vampires?" his voice turned lower in the last word and I knew why. Vampires? I controlled my expression. "Anyway," he cleared his throat. "They were supposed to be gone, but when my grandfather was chief, a coven larger than the ones they had seen before settled in town. The council gathered to chase them from their lands but the leader of the coven spoke to my grandfather like a man would. He said that they wouldn't attack, that they were different." Embry snorted again.

"Yeah right, cause that makes their blood-sucking ok." Quil smiled.

"Shut up, I'm telling a story!" snapped Jake and then he went on like he hadn't been interrupted. "My grandpa believed them but told them that they couldn't hunt in our lands or we would expose them to the pale faces."

"That's you." Inserted Quil with a helpful smile. Jake didn't say anything else, I figured it was ok to ask questions.

"Are you saying that the Cullens are descendants from the vampires your grandpa met and made a deal with years ago?" He shook his head.

"They're the same ones." So they were around a hundred years old?

"Actually, my dad said that since they last came the coven has grown. They added another two to the family." said Quil pleased with himself, proud to share something no one else knew.

"There's seven now? No wonder Billy was pissed." Jake raised his eyebrows, leaning back on the log. I couldn't believe it.

"I don't mean to be judgmental, but how can people buy these stories? We're discussing vampires." This was supposed to be a rational conversation. Jake agreed with me.

"I told you they were ridiculous. But people believe." he looked relieved that I wasn't laughing and pointing.

"Of course they believe!" said Embry "and it's not hard to do so. Have you _seen_ them? They look just like the stories say!" I raised an inquisitive eyebrow, he hadn't seen them as far as I knew. "Or at least my mom says they do."

"That's why we wanted to ask you Bella. You're the one of the few people who has actually seen them." I didn't know about them being vampires, it was ridiculous to think of mythical creatures. But I also learned that I didn't entirely object to the idea of them being considered something other than average.

"What do the stories say they look like?" I wrapped my arms around my knees, sitting in a tight ball. Now that they were getting new information, they seemed a lot perkier.

"They say they're really white, like insanely pale." They were. So white that they had faint dark circles under their eyes. "I mean, like whiter than you!" I rolled my eyes at them. They found it hilarious from time to time that my skin was lighter than theirs was.

"And that they're like super hot!" Embry added and I was certain this was the one thing that he wanted to be true. Jake scoffed at that before intervening.

"They only said they were attractive but I think that's just stupid." I agreed, how could they be simultaneously attracted and repulsed by them?

"And they're eyes are weird. That's why our grandparents believed them in the first place." That was an interesting observation.

"Weird how, Quil?" He didn't have time to respond.

"They have really light eyes or something." Jake answered.

"Well they do. And they _are_ paler than me." Embry laughed.

"No way!" he said and I scowled at him.

"But they're not hot are they?" asked Quil. Of all the things that should interest them. Like, did you see them drinking a mysterious red liquid at lunch? for example.

"They are." I said and Jake was suddenly very interested in the conversation. I don't think he'd ever heard me agree that someone was attractive. "I mean, you should see the girls," I deflected. "They're beautiful. A teacher was even flirting with one of the guys." They raised their eyebrows in appreciation. "Your stories seem to have gotten some things right." Jake snorted.

"Yup, up until the part where they're immortal and drink blood to survive." I smiled. It was nonsensical. My phone vibrated. I checked my messages.

"Your dad wants us to go have dinner." I paraphrased. I couldn't believe it was almost eight. We all got up. We started walking back to town and Embry and Quil lagged behind. Quil matched my pace. He was very sweet and we often ended up talking to each other.

"Damn, Bella, you get the good stuff. You're right in the middle of the action." said Quil.

"It's not so much fun, Quil. I almost had to swear Billy I wouldn't talk to them so he'd let me stay in school." He smiled.

"Maybe is for the best. I don't know if they're vampires and all that, but if they're dangerous, you should stay away from them." He meant it. I nodded.

"Yeah, better stay out of trouble." I didn't mean it. The stories changed nothing. If anything they made me look at the Quileutes in a different light. How could they possibly judge a group of people over something like that? Maybe Jake's forgotten grudge theory was right after all.

We said our goodbyes to Quil and Embry and went the other way towards the house. Jake put an arm around my shoulders as we walked.

"Do you finally think we're the stupidest tribe that you've ever met?" I laughed.

"What?" his fear was real, he looked embarrassed. I hurried to appease him. "No! Of course not, Jake!" He sighed.

"Great. I hope you mean it because even if you do you're stuck with us. It's nice to see there's still some respect left, though." I put my arm around his waist. Hoping to appease him. I was rarely affectionate like this, only when he needed it. Jake appreciated physical contact more than I did.

"Then again you're the only tribe I know. So I don't really have the grounds to compare..." He dropped his arm from my shoulders. I caught his hand to keep him close as I laughed. "No, really, I don't mind. I like to hear everything about the Quileutes. Even if they don't make so much sense." He frowned.

"Don't tell Billy, I did break the treaty by telling you." I smiled, trying to not look affected by his comment.

"So there_ is_ a treaty?" Despite the ridiculous reasons, and the guys' trivializing comments, the conflict was real.

"The Cullens are bound to secrecy, too. So if any of them comes up and tells you: Hi, I'm a vampire! You come to me and we'll tell Billy." I laughed, imagining Edward or Emmett saying that. Not Jasper, he was too scary. Rosalie would probably not speak to me at all and Alice, I could see her saying it easily. It wouldn't be amusing; Alice looked like the kind of person that could get away with comments like that.

"I promise that if they do, I'll let you know." He smiled.

"Good." He said. We made it home a couple of minutes there. Billy had ordered pizza with all of Jake's favorite toppings. It was nice to see he was making an effort.

3.

Despite the slight tension, dinner went on as normal as ever. By the end of the evening we were talking like the Cullens had never come in the first place. Billy turned in early, he was worn from all of the day's excitement although he didn't mention it as he left. Jake watched television while I corrected an essay he'd written and soon he was snoring beside me. I pushed him to his room before retiring to my own. I was not very tired.

After vainly attempting to sleep for an hour, I decided to get some work done. It took me less than ten minutes to accept that I would not be productive this evening. My homework remained undone in front of me. I'd barely given any thought to Trigonometry when all I could think of was the legends of the Quileutes. They were ridiculous, highly improbable and disturbingly accurate. How could they be so right about some things and so amusingly wrong about others? I would never deny that the Cullens weren't what you called average; I was a living example of individuals that escaped the norm. People came up with the strangest explanations when they didn't understand how something worked. Like ghosts or in this case, vampires.

My mind spun in circles and I achieved nothing. And admittedly, I wouldn't achieve anything in the foreseeable future since I was not allowed to approach them. Why go asking for trouble with Billy? This managed to arise a new determination: I'd heard enough about the Cullens. I was no better than Jessica and Lauren indulging in idle gossip. I would go on with my life the same way as I'd always had, minding my own business. With this decision made, I went to bed. I'd sleep whether I liked it or not. It was nighttime.

The next day I went to English without paying attention to the car or the curious glances and chatter surrounding its occupants. I would not listen to talk about them whether it was directly or indirectly. In English, Mike greeted me with a wide smile.

"Good morning! Hey, did we have the project with Mr. Banner on Thursday or Friday?" he meant a cell reproduction lab he'd been warning us about since last week.

"Friday, why?" I said as I sat beside him.

"My dad wanted my mom to go with him to Seattle on Thursday to check out new merchandise for the store. But she can't make it so he wanted me to come instead. If the project is on Friday then it's fine." I nodded absentmindedly. He always told me when he was missing school or not, even if I didn't ask.

Jessica sat down with a very stern "Hi." In our direction. Mike didn't even answer and my whispered greeting may not have reached her ears. I didn't make too much of an effort to make her hear me. She didn't stop texting today, either. We walked to our next class in silence. It was awkward silence in its greatest form. Going to Spanish only made it worse. With Edward present, the tension grew. She wanted to talk about it, I knew, and she knew that I didn't. We'd ignore it until now but with Edward there, it was impossible not to notice our different reactions. We didn't talk about it. And Edward as usual, remained completely unaffected.

I believed that until I started feeling him in my head again. I was entirely certain it was him, although I still had no clue of what he wanted to do. It was getting easier to reject him, but he never stopped. I'd been bracing myself all morning to not react in any way to his presence or even his scent, and I'd been successful. But when it came to his intrusion in what I assumed was my mind, I was as helpless as he was stubborn. I rejected him out of reflex and he ceased only occasionally. I actually started timing how long it took him to try again after failing; the longest he lasted was two minutes and thirty nine seconds. After that his patience plummeted. He didn't last longer than a minute.

When we went our separate ways I refused to think about it any longer, so I didn't. Gym was another story. As soon as I entered the Gym I saw Alice. Again, she looked better than anyone else in the P.E. uniform and she smiled when she saw me. I smiled back, I couldn't help it, deciding almost immediately that having her as my gym partner couldn't hurt.

"Care for a rematch?" she said, as she handed me a racket when Coach Clapp blew his whistle with unmasked apathy. I took it and we played falling into an easy conversation. She told me that she liked Seattle but she preferred New York. It wasn't hard to imagine why, since she could shop at her leisure there. She told me she could never understand how some people could go out of their homes wearing pajamas. I didn't say I'd done it in occasion with Jake when we were too lazy to change before getting something at the store. And she also shared that she liked music she could dance to rather than just listen. Finishing with a never-ending discourse on what to buy and how to buy it, shopping with her must be quite the feat.

Overall, nothing beyond what you would expect from a seventeen-year-old-girl. My mind easily pulled away from the Quileute's prejudice. Besides, I liked her, she was curious and childlike; she managed to spark my interest in things I didn't usually care about. When the bell rang we said our goodbyes. I was looking forward to talking to her again.

The tension returned at lunch where an invisible line separated the people interested in their own business and the ones focused on the official gossip about the Cullens led by Lauren and Jessica. To my surprise Kate and Ashley had joined them. Tyler and Eric were there too, allured no doubt, by the things they could learn about Rosalie and Alice. the other side, Mike, Angela, Ben, Austin and I talked as if nothing was happening.

The Cullens sat on the same table as yesterday and they didn't talk to anyone but each other. I'd promised myself not to eavesdrop, but that didn't stop me from noticing one remarkable detail: they didn't eat. Not one bite. Not even a piece of candy or a gulp of water. My determination shattered, all I could think of were the stories. What did that mean? I didn't believe it was because at night they drank human blood but it was still strange that they didn't eat. Because if they didn't eat at all, why did they bother to buy food? I kept waiting for them to at least touch their food. My hopes were on Emmett, his size required sustenance. But when the bell rang and his pizza lay untouched, my suspicion grew.

My mind revolving around this only made Edward's presence in Biology all the more conspicuous. Although I could reject his intrusion effortlessly there was nothing I could do about feeling his eyes on me the entire hour. I didn't even want to be thinking about him, because if I did I'd remember the ridiculous stories. And they made me uneasy.

4.

I was still thinking about them when I left Government. I'd paid a lot more attention to the subject just to see if I could keep my mind from turning to mythology and prejudice. Which I did, but that only emphasized the emptiness it left behind. If they were not human and I refused to accept they were vampires, what were they?

Fortunately, I was expected at Angela's house and I would be distracted. Until I reached the Weber's, though, I thought about Billy's rules. I'd never been very good at sticking to the general way of thinking without finding things out for myself. So I suspected that in this situation I would do the same.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I almost ran into Jake while I was walking towards my truck. Like a person who never breaks the rules, I suddenly felt nervous, as if he could somehow tell just by looking at me that I'd been talking to Alice Cullen today. My astonishment didn't have time for pleasantries.

"What are you doing here, Jake?" I asked, startled.

"Nice to see you, too." He said with his characteristic sarcastic grin. "Quil and I came to look for a record that he wanted. We were done earlier than he'd thought so he dropped me off here so we could ride back home together." He said as if this made everything clear. He'd been leaning on the truck with his arms crossed. Now that I was here, he sat on the back edge of the truck's bed, his body leaned slightly to the front.

"Didn't you have class?" He shrugged. I busied myself with putting my stuff away on the driver's seat.

"We ditched." I heard him say. I shook my head, and he wondered why I was the favorite one.

"Billy will find out." I mumbled as I looked inside my backpack, I'd put my Biology book somewhere, and I needed it to tutor Angela. How did Jake expect to get away with ditching in a Reservation where everyone knew everybody?

"He's too busy hating the Cullens to give a damn." His tone was distracted, so I finally I looked up at him. He was looking around. Something clicked when he mentioned the Cullens.

"Oh my God! Did you come here to spy on them?!" His casual expression evaporated and immediately he looked way too innocent.

"No, of course not!" he was faintly blushed. I laughed at him. This was too good to let go.

"You _did_! Really Jake, ditching to come gossip? I thought you were above that." He rolled his eyes. "Of all the times you criticized the girls at your school-" he interrupted what would've been a list of specific examples.

"I didn't ditch because of that. But since we were in the neighborhood..." he trailed off. As if it was too much of an effort for him to keep on lying. My eyes widened in mock horror. I even giggled a couple of times; I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my giggles.

"You're not even denying it?" I said, deeply amused. He opened his mouth, about to offer a less embarrassing alternative but instead he let out a deep breath.

"Shut up and point." he exhaled. I chuckled under my breath.

"I don't have to." I shut the door of the truck loudly; I'd found my book. I turned to look on the same direction as he was. I leaned on the truck as well.

"What do you mean you don't have to point?" He whined in a low voice. "There's a bunch of people here and I don't-" he suddenly stopped talking. And then said really fast: "Ok, you don't have to point." I looked towards the Volvo. Rosalie and Emmett had just come out of one of the buildings. Jake's mouth was partly open and his eyebrows almost touched his hairline.

"Mind the drool, Jake. Or at least turn away from me, I don't want to get all wet." I gave a tiny step away from him. "And before you get any ideas, they're together." He snapped out of it and rolled his eyes at me.

"I don't think she's hot." I laughed.

"Now you're just being ludicrous." He gave me a confused look "You're full of shit." I translated.

"I mean it, she's too... _perfect_." He looked disgusted so I scoffed.

"Best insult I've ever heard. If she's too perfect for you, then why are you still staring at her?" he was looking at them again, like he couldn't stop. I knew the feeling.

"It's just..." he lowered his voice "I've been brought up with all these stories and crap about them but I'd never really seen them. And I thought Billy was exaggerating with what he'd said but wow, he got it right." My amusement was all forgotten, my attention entirely engaged.

"What else is there? Aside from what you told me yesterday?"

"Not much, just stuff you wouldn't notice in plain sight. Not that it matters" That was too much. What did the stories say? And as I concentrated and pouted, Edward joined the group. To my misfortune, he looked around until he found me. Our eyes locked. And on queue, he frowned. He didn't just dislike me, he must hate me. He looked at Jake too before looking at his car.

"What's_ his_ problem?" grunted Jake as I looked away. Great, he'd noticed, too. I definitely didn't want him asking questions about Edward Cullen.

"Maybe he's wondering why we're staring at his family." Jake stopped staring for a moment, and also on queue, I felt Edward all around me. If he hated me so much why was he always trying? Jake seemed satisfied with his espionage labor for the day.

"Well they look charming." he said sarcastically, jumping from the truck and standing close to me, he took me by the elbows to get me even closer. His voice was low again as he spoke "I think I see where Billy gets ideas from, though, they're kind of weird looking. Especially Mr. Sunshine over there." He did a quick nod towards them. Then his eyes turned cheeky. "But no more weird looking than you, so I really don't see why we are not sharpening our pitchforks to use against you, too." He was being funny, so I didn't know why his comment hit me so badly. From the corner of my eye I saw Edward who was standing by the Volvo listening to something Jasper was saying and if it was possible, he looked even crankier than before. How did he manage to get new reasons to be crabby every ten minutes? He must be really creative. "Give me a ride, gorgeous?" Jake said, turning on the charm. I glared at him. I tried not to show how what he'd said had affected me.

"Idiot." I said, answering his gorgeous remark, and he laughed. He kissed my cheek quickly before jumping away to avoid the smack that I wasn't able to deliver.

"You know you love me." He said, wiggling his eyebrows and I smiled.

5.

_No more weird looking than you,_ what did that even mean? That the Cullens and I looked alike? I thought of Rosalie, walking in the cafeteria like it was a catwalk. Yeah, sure. Or had it more to do with what Embry said about me being as pale as them? Which was true, but pigmentation in the skin was not indicative of anything. It varied from person to person determined by genetic factors or maybe environmental ones, like exposure to the sun. I knew I was losing it when I got overly analytical and even clinical.

I'd been like this since Jake's stupid comment. Not even Angela's presence distracted me. Not even playing video games withe her little brothers. They beat me after a short while and then demanded another game since they didn't like it when adults let them win. I'd had to explain something three times to Angela because I wasn't making any sense. She even asked me if something was wrong but after a lie she let me alone. We had dinner and now I was driving back to the house.

There was a note in the kitchen counter, saying that Billy was at Harry Clearwater's house. I would be surprised if I didn't know why they were there. Jake was out, too, I knew it because he'd told me before I dropped him off earlier than since I was out of the house he was going to get lost in the woods to avoid talking to Billy. Great, so it was just me.

I dropped on the couch, relinquishing control over the thoughts that had only been an annoying thought in the back of my mind as I pretended to be ignorant of them. Now, set free and empowered, they threatened to overwhelm me.

The Cullens and I, alike? Why hadn't I thought about this before? It baffled me that regardless of how easily I had acknowledged their differences I hadn't considered for a moment that I could draw some parallels to me. The most I've gotten was that they were adopted, too. Now even that seemed suspicious. They were adopted, their appearances differed greatly from others and they didn't eat? I fit all of those criteria. And they weren't simple things either.

How did I not see it before? Then again, I did my best not to separate myself from others unless it was completely necessary. I liked to concentrate on the things that made me like other people. When Charlie was alive I liked to imitate him, eat what he ate, sing what he sung and even watched what he watched. When it came to my preferences I tried to include him as well, I'd even given him a poetry book by Tennyson I'd thought he might like. All of these things, attempted to repair the un-repairable: we were not alike. But could it be that there were others like me?

I already knew what I would do.

I may not be exactly like the Cullens, but at a simple glance I shared more with them than I had with any other group of people. I couldn't overlook that. Nor I wanted to. My earlier determination to stay away was over. I couldn't wonder anymore. I wanted to know everything about them and I would get my answers. Even if it meant shopping with Alice.

* * *

**Have any thoughts or questions? Feel free to comment. Thanks for reading. **


	4. Chapter 3

1.

Dad used to say that some things were better left alone. He told me this almost every day. That sentence summarized his entire attitude towards the subject of my mom.

I'd hardly knew anything about her. Charlie told me that I'd been found alone and there had not been any claims once I was taken by Social Services. He insisted that was all he knew. But the strange part was that he didn't even let me indulge in harmless speculation. I imagined what the color of her eyes was. Where they brown like mine? Or where they lighter? Perhaps they were a different color altogether. That was when Charlie changed the subject. He said it wasn't important; I had the prettiest brown eyes he had ever seen and that should be enough. Compliments weren't enough to distract me. I wanted to know.

It was not just about the past, but my present. I asked him why I was unlike most people. He said it wasn't important, the important thing was that I was healthy and I was loved. That answer was enough to calm me down. Being different doesn't matter when you're loved.

That lasted until he died. With his death, that apparent calm shattered and I was left with my questions. I had been fortunate enough to have Charlie who just loved me. Now I would live with a couple of strangers I had only seen a number of times. What would they think of me?

I feared rejection. For that, I was so mad at my dad for leaving me. For dying and destroying everything I knew. It always makes me feel guilty to remember just how enraged I was; something that only increased when I learned about how he died.

There had been a fire in a warehouse outside of town. My dad was in one of his rare patrolling jobs, he almost worked exclusively behind a desk these days since he was looking for a promotion. A family that lived nearby called it in. Charlie was the first one to get the call and to arrive at the scene. At the beginning all we knew was that he'd tried to stop the fire and had lost control of the situation.

When they found the others, I finally understood. Charlie arrived at the scene and quickly realized there were people inside the warehouse, probably homeless people looking for a place to spend the night, or so Ernie said. They were trapped when the fire started. Charlie managed to get in, but he didn't get them out.

A man that had died entering into a burning building, fearlessly throwing himself into a painful death, and he had looked scared when I brought up my mother and who I could be so terrible about the truth?

Billy was as interested about learning the truth as Charlie had been. When I first came to the Reservation he seemed tense and uncomfortable. In those first days I didn't care for his emotions since I was so caught up in mine. But as days went by, I noticed. He was very stressed. I appeased myself, thinking his distant attitude towards me was nothing but sorrow for the loss of his friend. Soon I realized it had to be something else. He'd watched me all the time. He kept me closely supervised and was reluctant to leave Jake and I alone for extended periods of time. Eventually, he eased up. Until finally, he treated me like he does now. Like a father to a daughter. And as far as my differences he only said that everyone's different. Then again he said that to Jake when he grew a foot in less than a year. So maybe Billy is adaptable. Although his initial wariness did not go amiss.

Jake was far less complicated than anyone else. Like Charlie, Jake is a person who can live with very little information. He never inquired how I could remember the exact words to a book I had read just once. He was unaware of my age, he was just happy to know when my birthday was so he could make me a present. The way he sees things is that the past is behind us and there is no use in looking back. He stands by that, he never speaks about his mother, for example. So as long as I can be normal at present, it makes no difference if I was "weird" before. He doesn't wonder about the future either. He doesn't realize that I have no intention of staying in the Reservation forever and if he does, he has a very good way of hiding it.

As far as I'm concerned, my differences are not as important, since they don't reveal any actual answer. I can state what I am, but stating it a million times brings me no closer to my nature. My interest is focused on how I came to be. As I see it, if I was allowed to find more about where I come from, my future would be a lot easier to discern. I couldn't live like Charlie, Billy or Jake. They didn't question themselves so thoroughly because they knew their place in the world. Who they were, where they were going to and who they wanted to be. Even Jake. I didn't. Not all of us were fortunate to share that kind of innate certainty.

If I wanted to find my place to be, I would have to look for it. Not knowing might have been enough for them, but not for me.

2.

My purpose was easily felt, but it was rough to translate it into action.

An entire week went by and I didn't have the guts to ask Alice for that shopping trip. Today was Saturday and I wouldn't beat myself up with what I had or hadn't done in the week. My day would be all about hanging out with Jake; since his friends had bailed on him.

The day was warm, Jake had been checking for two weeks to see that it stayed that way. Granted, it was low 50's but it was still warmer than it used to be; Perfect weather for cliff diving. With the bizarre week we've experienced we were in dire need of a distraction.

"So Embry's not coming?" I told Jake as I threw my backpack and a towel in the back of his car. He threw in a bag of chips. If anyone looked into the car they would think we we're going camping for weeks. That was how much food we were taking with us.

"No. He still says he feels sick, the idiot." If you understood Jake like I did, you knew that overt hostility meant he was worried.

"Did he go to the doctor?" Jake rolled his eyes. I corrected myself quickly. "Stupid question. Moving on." Dr. Cullen was on call this weekend. How did I know? Billy had informed us. He'd even posted a calendar with the precise dates in which we were not allowed to be anywhere near the hospital. I was going to say that seemed extreme but I had no time, for he proceeded to take out a map. He pointed out the places we were not allowed to go to anymore. "Since we're on the subject," might as well talk about it. We were already driving towards the beach. "What is with the territory divisions? And how can they even tell if we cross the boundaries or not?" They didn't have the resources to patrol that amount of terrain, did they? It seemed really extreme. Jake shrugged.

"I don't know, but they're serious about that. You should have heard them on Thursday." He referred to the council meeting they'd held. I hadn't been there because I wasn't allowed. Jake was forced and he made sure to express his displeasure for the entire day and the ones that followed. "They said that Sam and his groupies are going to make sure kids don't go into Cullen lands. I mean, come on, there's just three of them! How the hell do they think-" It was better to stop him before he went too far.

"Does that mean we are actually going to follow the rules?" I hadn't expected that. He sighed, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel.

"We have to. If Billy finds out we were over there, he'll flip." I crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest. This was getting annoying. Especially because one of the places I liked going to the most was off limits. Of all the places in the area, that little field where I liked to go to was Cullen territory. Great. I looked out the window, deciding to not talk about it anymore.

Quil wouldn't come because he had homework. His parents were really strict about that. Not that it mattered, Jake should've acted a little more affected by the absence of his friends but he seemed relaxed once we dropped the subject. He parked in our usual spot and we unpacked. We'd eat and chill before jumping.

We took some blankets and spread them around the ground. We had the radio Billy used to take on his fishing trips. The clouds parted and for a few moments there was sun, so we laid down with the food and made up pillows to be comfortable enough to forget the entire past week had happened.

"You have to be the only person that was born in Phoenix that has skin like that, Bella." said Jake, right before shoving a fistful of chips into his mouth. I'd taken off my sweater and rolled my sleeves up to attempt to decrease my body temperature. I knew it was pointless but I still tried.

"I've been here for two years, Jake. Are you ever going to get tired of picking on me just because I don't look like that?" I said and pointed at his perfectly tanned belly. He'd taken off his shirt again. He wouldn't admit it, but since his unusual growing spur had granted him with an impressively developed body he had become quite the exhibitionist. It was hilarious to hear the girls panting when he walked by.

"Nop." he said with a smug smile and I punched him in the arm. He laughed it off. Then he took a deep breath as he stretched like a cat. "Tell you one thing, I'm not going to miss all the crap we've had to put up with when we leave." Jake liked to daydream of the day when we left. I always went along with him, making plans that at least I knew were true for me. When high school was over I would probably move to whatever college accepted me and I would get a part time job to help pay for tuition. I hadn't decided where this would be but I had options due to my above average grades. Jake on the other hand, was barely getting through school because he didn't care. In his plans, he'd follow me wherever I went, and get a part time job somewhere to pay for rent until he found what he actually wanted to do. "Any chance you've decided where we're going? Like I've said before, I'm not picky. But I'd appreciate it if it was not a small town, I'm done with that." I laid on my side, resting my head on my hand and looked at him.

"How about California? Berkeley has an interesting curriculum and it is quite close to San Francisco so it meets your requirements." He grinned as he put his clasped hands behind his head. He closed his eyes.

"Sounds good." then he opened his eyes and looked gravely at me. "They have hot chicks and all that, right?" I dropped on the blanket as I rolled my eyes.

"Pig." I murmured. He laughed.

"Sunny California!" He exclaimed with a smile as he looked at the pathetic excuse for sunlight amid the darkened sky. The rain was looming in the horizon and it was getting colder. Surprisingly enough, he didn't seem to mind in spite of his half naked state. "It would be a nice change. Not just because we would be miles away from Billy and the tribe, but it might be nice to live somewhere sunny for a change." He sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees. "I won't be asked to be Chief of anything down there, that's for sure." his tone was serious, and I knew that he meant it. But it felt like ages ago since we'd had a relaxed conversation; I had no intention of being stern.

"Are you saying that you have no intention of getting a management position at the Pizza Hut you'll be working in? You'll be happy to stay as an unambitious waiter?" He grinned.

"Waiter? How about bus boy, or dishwasher? Sounds relaxing." I knew he was joking, but at the same time, there was truth to his sarcasm. And it bothered me, because his prospects could be a lot higher than he wanted to admit.

"And after that, Jake? When I'm a College graduate and I leave campus, where will you go?" I sat up, too, in the same position. He gave me a sneaky smile and slid an arm over my shoulders.

"You'll get a kick ass job and I'll marry you for your money." he grinned widely. I had to laugh; he would absolutely let me support him. "Don't worry, in exchange I'll let you name the children." I laughed now.

"What children?" It sounded so ridiculous. He looked offended.

"Our children." he frowned "I'll need the first boy to be called Jacob Jr., then you can name the other three." I raised my eyebrows.

"The other three? How do you expect me to support you if I'm pregnant half of my life." He shrugged and leaned his head on my shoulder.

"That's a mystery. But you can do anything you set your mind to, Bella. I'm sure you'll figure it out." He looked up at me again. "We will be so happy." He grinned. I moved so his head would fall off my shoulder. He groaned as if he was in pain before sitting back up.

"I have a better idea: You get a job. We don't have kids and you support me." He shook his head.

"I would never do that to you, Bella. I love you." he said in a phony in love voice he put on sometimes. "And I know you are a liberated woman. I want to encourage your personal empowerment, even if it means that I'll let you pay the bills. I'm willing to make that sacrifice." I laughed again.

He then proceeded to explain in detail how our married life would be. He then decided we would have two girls after Jacob Jr. and he told me their names. And after them, another boy. It was so ridiculous he had me laughing all morning, then the fun part came, it was time to cliff dive. We got up and I happily inhaled the scent of salt and water brought on by the breeze as we got closer to the edge. Jake was anything but enthusiastic.

"Are you sure you want to do it? The water is still freezing." I was too excited to care about that.

"It's not so cold. It's the warmest it's been in months! But I get it Jake, if you don't want to jump you don't have to." He scoffed.

"It's not that, I didn't-" he grunted "let's just do it and go home. I'm hungry." He'd eaten everything we'd packed. He was still hungry. It must be so nice to like food as much as Jake did.

"Race you to it?" I told him hopefully. He didn't answer, he started running. "Jake!" I whined as I ran after him. Honestly, I was faster than him. I just didn't need to rub it in his already affected male ego. We reached the edge, Jake was panting. I pretended to be tired too, I breathed with difficulty.

"Ladies first." He said and attempted to push me, I was too quick for that and moved away. He'd grabbed me by the waist though, and he kept on trying to push me. I grabbed his arm, if I fell, he was coming with me. We spoke as we struggled in our odd embrace. After a while I yielded or we'd never jump.

"Jerk!" I said and he laughed. "You won, you can go first." he shook his head.

"No, I need to stretch first." I snorted.

"What for?" He never did.

"My arm is... hurting." I was about to complain about that when we heard a loud laughter. Then someone shouting before several feet away from us Jared ran towards the edge of the cliff and leaped high into the air before diving into the water. He hadn't even flinched. Jake's mood soured. Paul and Sam were always with Jared; they had to be coming too. Sure enough, we heard Paul's screams soon after.

"That sucks! You didn't even make it to the rock!" Paul and Sam were visible now, no longer concealed behind the trees. Sam laughed. Jake turned to leave, but I held on to his arm. They spotted us soon after.

"Jacob." said Sam at the moment when Jake turned to look at me. Paul behind him followed his eyes in our direction. He looked tense and annoyed. Of the three of them, I disliked Paul the most. He seemed to have a problem with me so our dislike was mutual. Sam walked towards us. He was pleasant. His manners were a little forced with us, like he was being more politically correct than actually nice but I had no complaint.

"Hey." said Jake, not a note of enthusiasm in his voice.

"Bella." said Sam and nodded in my direction.

"Hi." I said trying to smile. Paul was behind Sam now. Inevitably he was looking at me.

"Jacob, you left so early on Thursday we didn't have a chance to talk." The tension was almost palpable. I never let go of Jake, he usually calmed down when I touched him.

"Yeah, I had stuff to do." Mumbled Jake.

"Sure you did." Paul muttered his teeth and Sam gave him a reproving look. Paul's expression sobered. I never understood the dynamics of their relationship. They seemed more like an authority figure and his subordinates instead of friends.

"Maybe next time you can stick around, sometimes we continue to talk once the official council is over." Said Sam. Jake's irritation was quite obvious.

"Yeah, maybe." he answered. Sam insisted.

"You should consider it Jake, you are a very important part of this community." Even I could notice a double inflection in his statement. His participation wasn't optional. Jake tensed.

"Yeah, well, I don't really know where I belong yet, but sure. I'll be there." I wished Sam had let it go.

"You belong here, with your people." Paul, that had managed to look away for a minute, glared at me. Jake noticed and that's how he lost his already feeble control.

"You know what, Sam, I really don't need this friendly encouragement bullshit you feel like you have to hand out. I'm fine on my own. And if I want to go to those fucking meetings, I will." Paul tensed, Sam looked disapproving. Jared was still dripping wet and looked excited but he immediately noticed the tension between us. He stood next to Sam, opposite to Paul. They both looked tense, expectant.

"There's no need to be disrespectful, Jacob. You are free to do as you please, I just don't understand why you refuse to accept your place." Jake took a deep breath in. All this time, Paul hadn't stopped glaring at me. I looked straight at him; I was getting tired of his hostility especially since I hadn't done anything to incite it.

"That's none of your business." Jared scoffed at that and Jacob gave him a menacing look. That only made Jared glare back in defiance. Sam raised a hand in Jared's direction and he looked away.

"Jake," I said, "let's go." I whispered and Jake relaxed very slightly. He gave a step back.

"You are such an idiot." said Paul, very quietly. It was obvious he meant Jake. I hoped for a moment that he hadn't heard but he let go of me and astoundingly quickly, shoved Paul back. Paul was as surprised as we all were, it took him a second to return to his place and try to shove Jake back.

"Enough!" said Sam in a deeply dictatorial tone. I'd given a step back when they started shoving each other. I would intervene if I wasn't entirely sure I would make it much worse. Paul stopped immediately but Jake didn't.

"Fuck you, Lahote! You're not worth it!" Said Jake after shoving him one more time. To my surprise, he did nothing more to defend himself.

"But she is?" whispered Paul. Jake looked like he would kill him if he said another word.

"If you can't control yourself, go now, Paul." said Sam severely. Paul looked at him and after a moment he turned around and walked away. "Go with him." Sam told Jared. He promptly obliged. Jake didn't say anything as he returned to his place next to me. I took his hand, he squeeze it gently. He was repentant but still evidently enraged.

"I'm sorry you don't see your place as clearly as you should, Jacob. But it changes nothing, we will welcome you if you ever decide to join us."

"Don't hold your breath." Jacob said clearly. Sam nodded sternly. His expression was not sarcastic, it was obvious he was simply above these discussions. He nodded in my direction and left. I didn't let go of Jake, he might be angry but there were three of them.

"Let's go, Jake." I whispered. He didn't move until Sam was out of view. As soon as that was the case he turned around and we walked back to where our things were. I wish I hadn't heard the conversation that followed, but I couldn't help it.

"Paul," said Sam's deep voice. "You are not to antagonize Jacob, and that includes insulting Bella Swan." Paul's response was immediate.

"Why not? She's shouldn't be here! Seeing them together, it's disgusting." he was deeply repulsed. The dislike I suspected he felt toward me was nothing compared to the hatred I heard in his voice. What had I ever done to him?

"It is not your place to question Billy's decisions. If he allows her to live here, we will stand by that. Jacob will eventually find his way to us, in the meantime, we wait."

"For what? First it was her and now the others, are we going to let them move in, too?" Sam's voice was anything but patient by this point. I heard him clearly because he yelled. I was already getting too far to listen.

"Enough, Paul. I forbid you to speak of them!" Paul shut up. "You can leave, but you better stay away from Jacob and Bella. As for you Jared, we'll start a watch on the edge of the land by the creek. Harry said he'd seen some kids playing there, let's make sure it doesn't happen again." I stopped listening, I was too far.

I tightened my grip on Jake's hand. Our dreams of leaving the Reservation and having a new life were fun, but they were just dreams. He belonged with them. As for me, I was tired of feeling out of place.

3.

On Monday Jessica managed to distract me momentarily from my determination, her anxiety was too obvious to overlook. We were assigned to do some equations together and I dreaded it, until it became apparent that she was not her usual chatty self at the moment. The only thing that stopped me from asking her if something was wrong was that she never stopped texting or passing notes with Kate. Which meant she was probably talking about what was bothering her with them. The reason behind her anxiety became evident in Spanish.

Señora Goff had told us we would be working with partners today to translate a small text while she graded some exams. Which meant we would work for a total of five minutes and then we would talk to each other until the class was over. I'd been partnered up with a boy named Keith who never did any work and Jessica would work with Linda who was always drawing in her notebook. Edward was working with a girl named Leslie that looked terrified of the prospect. When we all changed seats, I actually saw her gulping. I couldn't help being curious about their interaction. It wasn't everyday that Edward was forced to talk to others.

"Hello." he said pleasantly. Leslie looked down.

"Hi." she said softly.

"Bella?" asked Keith, when did he sit next to me? I'd better work and listen.

"Sorry, Keith." He sat beside me. We started working. I usually tried to explain what I was doing so at least we could pretend to be working together but since I had some other interests in mind I just did it myself. Keith seemed more than glad to let me.

I'd never seen Jessica work so diligently she managed to finish her composition soon after we did and now she looked even more nervous than before. She throwing nervous glances at Edward who was consumed in his task. Meanwhile, Leslie reminded me of Señora Goff's Chihuahua in a picture she'd shown us. You could see Taco's raw anxiety when he was forced to endure a hot air balloon ride. That was exactly what Leslie looked like now, trembling and wide eyed. Since I was listening to their conversation I knew that it was not Edward's fault. He was actually being pretty nice, he'd been explaining everything more than once even so she would learn as well. I couldn't blame her, though, he was somewhat unsettling. When they finished she came up with some weak excuse and returned to her seat. She looked relaxed after that. Edward returned to his brooding.

Keith took out a graphic novel and read beside me, so I was free to intrude in Edward's privacy when Jessica got up and went to him sitting where Leslie had been. Edward looked at her with polite disinterest. I finally understood her nervousness, she was going to ask him out.

"Hi." said Jessica. I knew her well enough to know she was deeply nervous, but to others it might not be so noticeable.

"Hello." Answered Edward. It shocked me to see that he was not as kind as he had been with Leslie. He sounded impatient.

"I know I hadn't said hi before, but you know how school is, it's kind of crazy!" she giggled nervously. Edward didn't smile. When he didn't say anything, she went on. "But anyway, hi! I'm Jessica Stanley!" he sat up, the change in stance was not encouraging.

"I'm Edward Cullen." his tone was charged with arrogance. Or at least that's what it seemed like to me. It angered me a little; the girl was clearly making an effort to be friendly. So did he have to be such a snob?

"Yeah," she giggled, brushing her hair behind her ear nervously. "We all know your name." She blushed since it was meant to be a compliment, Edward remained unmoved. "Anyway, some friends and I are going to this really hot club in Seattle on Friday," I wasn't invited, it was the first I'd heard of this. "Tyler's brother who's in college knows a guy that's going to let us in through the back. It's going to be awesome, and we were wondering if you wanted to come, since you're new and all..." Edward didn't even look tempted. Jessica started panicking "It will be a good way to get to know some other kids from school, get out a little?" she kept waiting for him to interrupt her with an affirmative answer. He never did. He was just looking at her with disdain.

"I appreciate the invitation, Jessica." It was clear this was a lie. Jessica noticed. "But I'm not interested." Jessica's expression fell quickly, she looked deeply embarrassed. He'd spoken at a very low voice so no one had heard, but they didn't need to. Her expression said it all.

"Oh, ok," she stammered and I felt bad for her. Did he really have to be such a jerk? He could've been nicer, made something up? And on top of it all, he looked deeply irritated. As if it insulted him that she had even asked. What a jerk. I felt oddly protective over my estranged friend.

Jessica got up and went back to her seat. She didn't look at anyone; I wrote something on my notebook, so she would think that I hadn't seen it. But she looked blushed and for the rest of the class she didn't talk or even text. Now I was mad. I didn't think Jessica was the nicest person, but she deserved to be treated with more consideration.

The bell rang and Jessica didn't care to keep her cool long enough, she stood and left quickly. I followed her to the bathroom. She was crying very softly from inside a bathroom stall.

"Jess?" I said quietly against the door.

"Go away, Bella." she said. I knew she didn't like to cry in front of people but we'd been friends for two years. It had to count for something.

"Jess," I said softly "Come on out," I tried my best to be sensitive even though this was not really my forte. "He is so not worth it, Jess. Forget about it." That's what you're supposed to say, isn't it? Apparently not. She came out of the stall. She didn't look sad anymore, she was furious.

"Why do you even care, Bella? I thought you didn't give a shit about the Cullens." said Jessica angrily. This emotions were brought on by Edward's rejection, this couldn't be about me.

"I don't. We're friends, Jess. I just wanted to make sure you're all right." I said and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, right. You're probably going to tell me you knew it all along." she sneered.

"I didn't , Jess. That's not-" I began, but she didn't let me finish.

"But you know what, I had a good a chance with him as any other girl in the school. Even you!" Where was this coming from?

"I never said you didn't-" I was on her side, why couldn't she see it?

"Oh, please! Lauren was right; you do think you're better than the rest of us. But you know what? You're not. You're just a stuck up bitch." Her angry words came so naturally that it was clear that for the first time she was saying what she meant. How long had she thought that about me?

"Fine, you know what? I'm leaving." I said, my temper flaring.

"No one's stopping you." she said with an ironic smile.

"I thought we were friends, Jessica. I was clearly mistaken." It pained me a little, she'd been one of the first people I had talked to and I thought I owed that moment of kindness a little respect. I held on to that thought, I didn't want to be hurtful.

"Thank you for the insight, genius." she said and I took a deep breath. It really wouldn't do any good if I answered to that. The bell had already rang, great, I'd be late for Gym.

4.

At Gym I was completely determined. I'd barely even said hello to Alice and handed her a racket when she spared me the trouble.

"Bella, want to go shopping on Friday?" I smiled a little, she hadn't asked me directly before. I couldn't overlook such opportunity.

"Yes." She'd asked, but when she heard my reply she froze.

"Really?" Her eyes were wide; as if it was the most incredible thing she had ever heard.

"Yes, Alice." Her mouth opened.

"Oh, Bella!" She jumped up and down eagerly. "You are not going to regret this! Where should we go?" Her eyes looked away as she stared into a world of possibilities. I feared that if I let her go wild, she might end up taking me to New York or Paris. I didn't know if they were rich or not, but Alice didn't seem like the person to let something as unimportant as money to stop her.

"Let's just keep it close. Port Angeles is an hour away, maybe we should do that." Her enthusiasm dimmed slightly. She needed more valid reasons to accept. "It's Friday but I still have a curfew." She looked resigned.

"All right, but if it we don't find anything, we're going to Seattle. Don't worry about the time, I'll get you home on time." She winked. I was more worried than I'd been before.

"I'm not sure what that means, but making it back alive would be nice." She gestured my worries away as she went on mumbling about possibilities. I did nothing to curb her enthusiasm. It was nice to make someone happy for a change. However, as the week went on, I feared that I was way over my head. Every day at Gym she'd question me about things I had never thought of before. Colors, textures, form. I pretended that I knew, and she went on with very little encouragement. By Friday I wondered what it would entail to become Alice's new project. The outlook wasn't great.

"What are you doing later?" asked Angela at lunch on Friday. I knew she had the twins, so she wasn't really asking to set something up.

"Hanging out with Alice." I said in a low voice. Not that I needed to. It was just Angela, Ben, Austin and Mike in our table now. Jessica and her friends had moved to another table after our discussion. I didn't really care, it was better that way. Needless to say, Lauren, Kate and Ashley officially hated me. They glared at the Cullens, too. Jessica must have shared her tragic story.

"Are you?" Angela asked surprised as she took some of her homemade sushi and put some soy sauce in it.

"Yeah, why?" She smiled and shook her head.

"Nothing in particular. It's just a nice change. I thought you'd be hanging out with Jake." Jake. Since the argument he had with Sam and the others, I'd hardly seen him lately. Or Billy. This past week was a lot like living by myself. Except of course when we happened to be in the house at the same time and everyone was tense but no one talked about it.

Billy had even gotten to the extreme of speaking Quileute when I was present and he had to say something to Jake I wasn't supposed to know. Jake answered in English, but I still pretended not to hear anything. It wasn't my business if Billy didn't think it was. It still made me feel uncomfortable.

On Thursday I'd already known they had an assembly so after school I went to Charlie's house instead. Doing homework was easier when you didn't feel like you were intruding in a conversation. Which was true every time they got back home and I was there.

"No, Jake's busy." I told her. She didn't ask anything else but I knew she was curious. "He's more involved in the tribe's matters now. Billy is trying to give him more responsibilities." Angela nodded wistfully.

"And how is he coping?" She'd only met Jake a couple of times but that was enough for her to realize the conflict I knew so well.

"Not too good. So I'd rather not be home right now." she nodded.

"It's a good thing you're making new friends, then." She was happy for me, genuinely pleased. I smiled.

"I know." I took a bite of the cookie I'd brought for lunch. Then, I realized our conversation was too calm and uninterrupted. "Where's Mike?" I said, looking around. No wonder everything was so quiet. I felt slightly bad, I hadn't noticed he was gone until now.

"I don't know. You're the one he usually tells." said Angela. She was right. I took my cellphone out of my pocket. Sure enough, I had two messages from Mike I'd missed. I can't make it to school today, I'm still in Seattle. Dad had some questions about inventory and we couldn't speak to the guy at the store until today. I knew we had the project today, but I doubt we're going to make it. Sorry :( Mind telling Mr. Banner?

I wasn't really disappointed. I texted him back that it was ok and that I would tell him. I also added an excuse of being too busy to answer his text until lunch. I hope he bought it. He answered right , you're the best! See you on Monday.

It didn't matter anyway; I usually did all the work myself. Angela looked at me with an expectant expression.

"He's in Seattle. He's not coming to school today." I said putting my cellphone away.

"Oh, ok." she said and ate some more sushi. "So what are you and Alice going to do today?" she asked and when I answered she laughed, she knew that shopping was painful to me. We continued on that topic on conversation until the bell rang and it was time for Biology. We walked together and she told me about her mom already pressuring her to get a dress for the Spring formal.

"Already?" I groaned, thinking of dresses and cringing inside. I made a mental note not to mention anything to Alice while shopping. I feared it would unleash a side of her I was not brave enough to face.

"Yes, she says it is a good idea. I don't even have a date, what's the rush?" I smiled. She looked disappointed and I thought I knew why. Angela was observant but I wasn't a total idiot. I knew she liked Ben even if she didn't talk about it.

"It's a girl's choice so you can easily fix that." She blushed.

"I'll pass. But do tell, who are you asking to the dance?" I rolled my eyes.

"It's months away, I won't torture myself with that kind of pointless question." She smiled and shook her head.

We went into the classroom and I hovered on Angela's desk as she continued to make fun of me in that really nice way she had. Then the bell rang, and Mr. Banner cleared his throat. So we reluctantly took our seats. And that's when it hit me.

"Ok, as you know the project is today so take your seats with your partners and try not to be too loud as I give out the worksheets." I looked around. Mike was the only absent one. I had no partner.

Mr. Banner moved down the rows of tables giving out sheets, he reached my spot. "Bella, Mike's dad told me why he wasn't coming. So you can work with Edward today." he looked at Edward but I didn't turn.

I sighed. This was not my week.

* * *

**Any comments? Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 4

1.

Mr. Banner happily gave us our sheet and left, oblivious to my frustration. Edward gave no comment to Mr. Banner's instructions but I felt him watching me. His presence was over me, but I rejected it easily. It was second nature by this point.

Time was up for me to successfully ignore him; I couldn't pretend he didn't exist if we were in close proximity. The sound of his chair scraping the linoleum as he got up startled me, and after two weeks of systematic silence, it was all over. In a surge of defiance, I looked at him, trying to maintain a neutral expression.

"Hello." He said gently as he looked straight into my eyes without embarrassment. I noticed that his features softened under close scrutiny, he appeared younger and his expression was amiable. But despite his polite demeanor, I was certain he disliked me. I estimated that we could do the work quickly and return to ignoring each other. At the moment I had no intention of looking down, I refused to be intimidated like Leslie had been.

"Hi." I answered, attempting to exude confidence. Mr. Banner had placed the microscopes in our tables in advance and he was done giving out worksheets. He positioned himself in the front of the room to finish his announcements. I looked towards him, Edward didn't.

"The assignment is simple. Look at the slides and write down what phase of cellular reproduction they are in. Try not to look at your books. We'll stop five minutes before the bell rings to go over your findings." More bad news. The assignment would be longer than I'd anticipated. Mr. Banner concluded his announcements and the enthusiastic chatter began all around us. Edward's voice was smooth and quiet and as usual, it stood out effortlessly.

"Would you like to begin?" he said pleasantly, his eyes still boring into mine. It couldn't be polite to stare at someone like that. I stared right back. He seemed to be in a good mood. Since I prided myself on being reasonable, I decided not to pass judgment on him until I had first hand experience on his behavior. I felt really mature at the moment.

"All right. Pass me the slides, please?" I forced myself to speak to him as I would anyone else. Because he was just another guy. He complied, and I got distracted by observing how careful his movements were. I wasn't certain if it was just the way he moved or if he was going out of his way not to touch me.

"Anaphase." I said and he wrote it down. His handwriting was impeccable.

"Aren't you going to look?" I asked as he removed the slide and placed another.

"I trust you are correct since you regularly are." I wasn't aware that he paid enough attention to me to ascertain something like that.

"What if I'm wrong?" I said and he looked skeptical.

"I doubt it." he whispered and he looked into the microscope. "Prophase." he picked up his pen to write it down. Then he stopped and turned to look at me with an amused expression. "Would you like to check?" I did. When I didn't refute his assessment, he wrote it down.

To my dismay, we completed the assignment five minutes later. We took turns, and didn't make mistakes. I always checked; he never did. And now, we had forty minutes ahead of us and I already felt uncomfortable. I sank in my chair. My shoulders slumped slightly. He surprised me by talking.

"My sister tells me you are originally from Phoenix." I looked at him with genuine incredulity. He was deliberately making conversation.

"Yes. I was born there." Due to my early determination to treat him equally to the rest of our peers I answered and even offered a question of my own. "Where were you born?"

"Chicago." His body shifted slightly in my direction as he answered. I moved back an inch.

"Alice didn't mention Chicago." He didn't flinch when he responded.

"We were born in different cities." Without taking a breath he asked "Was your father originally from Forks?" It was difficult to define if he was genuinely interested, I couldn't understand his motivation. My relentless shock left me unprepared to lie convincingly so I told the truth.

"Yes, he grew up around here. That's how he became friends with the people in the reservation." I couldn't believe I was actually detecting curiosity in his usually aloof expression.

"It is so peculiar that you live with the Quileutes. They tend to be very protective of their territory." He wasn't being hostile; his tone didn't mean to offend. I felt defensive either way.

"They protect their families from what they think is unsafe," my tone hardened and did not go amiss "but they are kind and loving people. When Charlie died, Billy took me in because he was family to him." His eyebrows knit together.

"That was certainly very kind of him." There was skepticism in his voice.

"It's not that extraordinary. Think of your parents, they took you and your siblings in, that's even more peculiar." His attention wasn't as engaged when he spoke of himself.

"I believe the circumstances were different. Not that it diminishes the kindness behind the gesture." He explained. "What Billy did for you on the other hand, was remarkable." I frowned, his words provoked me.

"You must know a lot about the tribe then." I retorted and he seemed to be about to begin a lecture on the subject, but we were interrupted.

"I feared this would happen." said Mr. Banner as he lazily picked up the worksheet from our desk. "You two are my best students," he said as he looked distractedly at the paper. "You are also well behaved, so keep it down while the others finish." He turned to leave. Once he left, my gaze returned to Edward who looked deeply entertained. It was quite different from his usually bored expression. Before I could ask, Mr. Banner stopped and walked back to us. "I should've thought of it sooner. I'll have you two working together from now on. That way I can give you advanced assignments and Mike can start doing his own work for a change." He threw me a chastising look before leaving. Great, now Edward was my lab partner. I didn't control my grimace. Not that my visible distaste was enough to conclude our conversation.

"What about your mother?" He asked once Mr. Banner was two tables away. My forced maturity and detached facade flew out the window with that question. Although I hadn't looked away from his intense gaze for a moment, this question made me square my shoulders and turn in his direction while remaining seated.

"What?" I asked, appalled by his lack of restraint.

"Your mother." He didn't even hesitate. "You've spoken about your father before but you didn't mention your mother." No one had asked that before. The mention of one dead parent was enough for most people. Not for him. He looked unapologetic and curious. It irked me. His question made me remember that I had no answer.

"That's a bit personal, isn't it?" For the second time I felt like I needed to justify myself and it wasn't pleasant. I tried to deflect his attention. "What if I were to ask you about your parents?" he didn't look surprised. He leaned his head a little forward and I didn't move back this time. Until now, I hadn't noticed he had turned in his chair. Now his entire body was facing me, his left elbow on the table and his right on the back of his chair. He intertwined his fingers.

"What would you like to know?" I shrugged. I hadn't expected him to answer. He was usually so distant. I thought he would be insanely private about his personal life, too. I tried to match his confident tone when I spoke.

"What happened to them?" I felt bad for asking that. I didn't know him enough.

"They died." He answered simply. "A long time ago. That's when Carlisle found me." He said me not us. I didn't miss that.

"I don't know anything about my mother. Or my father, that is. Charlie found me and that's all I know." His characteristic frown appeared marred by an emotion I knew I had to be interpreting incorrectly. If I hadn't known him already I would've thought he was concerned.

"Have you ever wanted to know what happened to your birth parents? Who they were at the very least?" His voice was a whisper, protecting the question from curious ears. The answer echoed in my head as soon as he'd asked: every day.

"No." I lied. "Charlie was my family. Now the Quileutes are. That's enough." His head tilted a fraction as his large eyes bored into mine. I'd never been looked at with such intensity; he regarded me with an interest I had never witnessed before. It wasn't morbid, or incisive, he was engrossed.

"Are you sure?" My patience was thinning. His motives became more obscure as his questions deepened. He was asking things that I kept far away from myself so I didn't have to look at them. When he asked, I had to pay attention.

"Yes, I'm sure." I said annoyed. He didn't seem deterred by my tone.

"It might not always be like that." He said arrogantly. I was angry and curious at the same time.

"What do you mean?" He pondered my question. His lips pursing slightly as he considered a word to phrase his answer. When he answered, his voice was lower.

"Perhaps in time you will require more answers. You seem to possess a rather inquisitive mind. It's only logical that eventually the questions of your origin will take a central role in your life." His eyes followed the contours of my face, I pretended not to notice.

"Why are you so certain? Are you speaking from personal experience?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"In a way. But my situation was less complicated than yours." Again that felt like an insult to me. He assumed so much without knowing anything for a fact. I controlled my curiosity and indulged in my anger.

"Good to know you know everything about my situation. Even though you'd never talked to me before." Which meant all he supposedly knew was nothing but rumors or stories from third parties. Who would've known Edward Cullen was also involved in gossip.

"There was no need, what you have shared now is enough." I was unsettled under his gaze. "You seem to be out of place. That will only speed things along." I was undecided whether I was infuriated because he was conceited jerk or because his observations were uncanny. Then again, if I had learned anything from Jake was that aggression usually pushed people away.

"What's it to you anyway? Who cares if you're right or not?" To my dismay, the effect my angered tone produced in him was not satisfactory. He looked amused.

"You're angry with me." My patience was far gone.

"Why are you talking to me?" I managed to make him smirk with this question.

"Conventionally, lab partners speak to each other." I took a deep breath. He was so close to me, closer than ever before. I didn't realize his scent was so potent. Irritating or not, I found it pleasing. Not that I would admit it right now.

"Conventionally people are more reserved with their questions when addressing someone they have never met before." I moved closer again, it was an inevitable part of my stubbornness. He watched me for a moment before slightly moving away from me.

"I apologize if I offended you in any way, Bella." Even the way he said my name incensed me. "But I stand by what I said, even if you found it obnoxious." I clenched my jaw, he didn't miss it. His eyebrows rose as he asked "Or am I wrong?" His self assertion bugged me, I wanted to shatter his cockiness with a snarky remark but I was unable since he was right once more. To answer his question I could only glare, he held my gaze.

The bell rang and this time, I was the one who left the room as fast as possible; trying to convince myself that it was because I didn't want to be late for my next class.

2.

The rest of the day I tried to shrug off my annoyance with no success, luckily an event looming in the horizon was far more interesting than my lingering ire. Alice and I had agreed in Gym to meet at Charlie's house after school. She insisted on driving, I let her know it was best if I just dropped off my car at my dad's house. She never mentioned coming to the Reservation and I didn't bring it up.

Twenty minutes before Alice's arrival, I was nervously pacing around the living room. I convinced myself that no matter how much I managed to learn from Alice tonight, it wouldn't be much. But I was eager, jumping at every sound and expecting her to be there. Like she would knock on my door and tell me everything I had always needed to know.

My fidgety excitement turned to stressful tension as the silver Volvo parked in front of my house. When Alice got off the passenger's seat I relaxed. I don't know what I had expected when she said she would drive, but I had learned to associate that car with her brother. After I made sure she was alone, I stopped attempting to control myself. I opened the door before she reached the house. She smiled brightly at me.

"Bella! Ready to go?" she looked so excited; her giddiness was infectious. I smiled widely.

"Let's do this, Alice." I said and she shrieked. We rushed to her car.

"Where to? What do you want to buy first?" she said as we walked back to the car.

"I have no preferences. But I do need a sweater." Her eyes glinted.

"We'll start with that, then!" she said and we got into her car. It smelled like them. All of them. But Edward's scent stood out. Annoyingly so.

"Is this your car?" I asked her as I put my seat belt on. She shook her head.

"No, I don't have one. This is Edward's." She switched to drive and pulled away from my house. I watched my old truck with nostalgia; at least that one didn't smell like him.

"And he just let you borrow it? Does he know what we're up to?" She stepped on the gas; the car was faster than I expected it to be. Alice seems to be well aware of that fact and determined to take advantage of it. Soon, everything outside was nothing but a blur, I didn't know anyone who dared to drive this fast with no fear of getting caught but she looked entirely relaxed.

"Yes, I told him what we were doing and he offered his car. I think he's going out with Jazz since I abandoned him to have a girl's night out!" She sounded so excited you would think it was the first time she'd ever done this. "Why?" she looked curiously at me, I shrugged.

"I just don't think he likes me very much, so he might not want you to drive me around in his car." She flashed a puckish grin.

"Don't worry about my brother liking you, Bella." she said and then she whispered "God knows he's stubborn." I wasn't sure if she wanted me to hear that so I didn't comment on it. Then she looked at the stereo. "What I am worried about is finding good music in this car. She pushed buttons around. After the second button,_ Clair de Lune_ by Debussy started playing. I automatically smiled, I loved that song. Alice looked offended. "Ugh. This is definitely Edward's car, who drives with that on?" She mumbled as she took out the CD with one hand. She looked like she wanted to throw it out the window so I took it from her and looked for a case. Debussy deserved better than that. I wanted to believe I wasn't defending his taste in music, but mine.

"I like it!" I opened the glove compartment searching for the case. Everything was perfectly organized so it didn't take me long to find it. Somebody was a control freak. Alice looked at me, and I narrowed my eyes in response, I was already familiar with her impish expression.

"Of course you do." I caught the tone but I couldn't understand the implication. "There's just no way I'm going to listen to that all the way." She settled on a radio station that played mostly catchy pop songs and turned the volume up until the car was vibrating around us with the repetitive rhythms. Relief washed over her face. "Much better." For the fuss she'd made about the music we'd be listening to all the way, the drive did not take more than thirty minutes.

"You know I'm in no rush, you didn't have to drive so fast." I mumbled as we got off the car.

"Nonsense!" she said dramatically. Then again, Alice was a theatrical person so dramatic was her norm. "That's the only way I know how to drive." No wonder she wasn't usually the designated driver. "Now, for the good stuff, let's shop!" she spoke the word with reverence, as if nothing could hold greater esteem for her.

As she dragged me into the first shop I groaned and bitched to leave no doubt I was being forced to do this. In reality, I mostly appreciated the moment. This was Alice in her element. She knew what to look for and how to boss around salespeople so efficiently that everyone was happy. They would go home with a nice commission tonight so why wouldn't they be?

After she saw me eyeing two sweatshirts, she wordlessly banned me from picking anything and jammed me in a dressing room instead. Where she threw different outfits for me and forced me to try them on. It didn't matter that I argued several times I didn't need anything of what she was giving me. For the next two hours I tried on what she asked and then paraded myself in front of her; seeking her approval.

She was consumed by her task. She would frown and mumble "Not quite," and go into another rack to return with three or four things I never would've picked had I been on my own. Then again my shopping trips were more of the get in, take the first soft thing you see that isn't pink, and get out variety.

We were at the fourth store when I finally decided to talk to her about what was one my mind. She'd already bought around ten items and I still didn't have a sweater. It was going to take a while because like I told her I was on a budget and I had no intention of letting her pay. No matter how much she pouted and fake-cried. Something she did when I refused to buy a five hundred dollar dress. I caught her on it and she shook it off and searched for something else. Now at a shoe store, it was a good time to talk, since there were no dressing room doors between us. Alice was currently trying on a pair of long black leather boots that looked incredible on her. I was humoring by trying a similar pair of brown boots, my mind was elsewhere.

"Alice," I said hesitantly. She didn't look away from the mirror.

"Hmm?" she answered. The salesman was staring, besotted by her. He was so distracted by the girl in front of him that I was pretty certain I could just go up to the register take out the money ask him for his car keys and drive away. He would do it with a smile. It was not a strange reaction; going out with Alice drew a lot of attention. I found it amusing since she was well aware of that and used it in her favor.

"Have you ever wondered... I mean." I was so much more eloquent on my head. "Do you ever think that... or maybe you already... No." She looked at me and actually put the boots down.

"Bella, you know you can ask me anything, right?" she whispered. I looked at her, feeling very tense. She read my expression quickly. "I think I'll take these." she said to the salesman and handed him the boots. "Can you be a sweetheart and pack them in a box for me?" Her voice was so appealing; the guy didn't stand a change.

"Yeah, right away, Miss." She flashed him a devilish smile.

"Please, call me Alice." The guy almost bumped his head on the door as he turned around and went to the back of the store to get the boots. If I hadn't been so nervous I would've laughed.

"Now, this is not the kind of conversation we want to have in front of the salesman. How about if we get something to eat?" I smiled.

"I'm not really hungry." She grinned widely.

"Neither am I. How about Italian?" I nodded. Fifteen minutes later we were at a restaurant,_ La Bella Italia_. We ordered some food, regardless of how unnecessary it would be. I had to eat since I hadn't eaten lunch. We discussed the stores we'd visited while the waitress hovered by our table. Finally, she brought our food and drinks and left.

"You didn't need to order anything." I told her as I took my fork out of my napkin. That would make it clear where my thoughts were headed. Alice didn't even look surprised.

"It's only conventional to eat at restaurants, Bella." Her use of that word, it reminded me of her brother. I tried not to think of him right now. "But you don't really care about that, do you?" she looked serious.

"Not really." She looked into the distance for a moment and then she looked at me.

"I'm afraid I will disappoint you, Bella. There are many things I would like to share with you, things you want to know. But I can't." I frowned, until now it never occurred to me she wouldn't want to tell me things.

"Why not?" I said, disappointed.

"The time isn't right. It will happen," she was entirely confident "Just not today." She explained sadly. The confusing part is that if I was reading her right, she wanted to tell me.

"What does that mean?" She picked up her fork and started poking at her food with mild distaste.

"It means I can't answer what you really want to know." She looked just as disillusioned as I was feeling.

"How do you know what I want to know?" She smiled slightly.

"It's a gift." She winked. It took me a moment to understand that she wasn't being humorous. "Trust me Bella, the time isn't right for you to know certain things. But when it is, I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have." I frowned.

"Just tell me one thing Alice," My heart beat strongly as I dared to say the words out loud. Alice eyed me with deep curiosity but did nothing to interrupt me. "Am I like you?" My voice was quiet and weak and Alice stared at me for a long time. She shook her head, briefly looking down before speaking.

"I don't really know, Bella. None of us does. We have never met someone like you." The gleam of her eyes betrayed her honesty. I sighed and slumped in my seat, disappointed. Alice went on. "I should probably warn you, not every question you have has an answer. Some things are a mystery." She said sadly before her expression gave a 360° turn and returned to her jaunty self. "But look at it on the bright side, now that we've met, its only a matter of time before you get some answers!" she was excited. I had to smile, I couldn't help myself. I did nothing to hide my annoyance.

"Which would excite me if you could tell me anything besides the time will come." I said the last part with an attempted ominous and mystical tone. She poked at her pasta.

"You have to be patient. I can't say anything." She was firm. But I was stubborn.

"Not even if I guessed?" She looked at me in disbelief. "What if you write it down? Or what if you point out to a helpful area at the library." She giggled.

"It's sweet of you to try. But no." I sighed. I ate with a frown on my face. "But that doesn't mean that we can't have another shopping trip." There was a hint of hesitation in her tone, it was so unlike her. I looked at her for a moment. She looked bashful.

"Of course we will have other trips." I said emphatically "And hopefully you'll actually take me to a bookstore next time, don't think I didn't notice you broke your end of the deal." I complained and she smiled.

"Do you mean that?" For someone so beautiful and confident in many ways, she looked too surprised that I actually liked her.

"Hell, yes." I tried to replicate that way Jake managed to make you feel like that whatever he was saying was the absolute truth. "You're the coolest person I've ever met!" And one of the few people that seemed to like me this week. "You took me shopping, Alice. Shopping." I repeated, attempting to leak some of the horror I felt when I heard the word. "And I still like you. That means something." Her smile widened.

"Oh, I'm so happy, Bella! You know, I'm certain you and I are going to be great friends." I took another bite.

"Do you know it?" I said mockingly, making fun of the mention of her "gift."

"As a matter of fact, I do." She poked at her food again and I smiled. It was disappointing that she didn't say anything that I didn't know, but I liked her all the same. I didn't think I had wasted my time today. I looked at her untouched plate of food. I didn't say anything as I switched them and started eating some of her spaghetti.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a curiosity you only find in kids. I smiled.

"Let's not hurt the chef's feelings. You've clearly not eaten anything." She gave me a tiny grin. "Nice choice," then I had to remove some chicken from the pasta. I grimaced "Next time remind me to pick your plate, I'm a vegetarian you know." I said with raised eyebrows and she looked as engrossed as her brother had been. I talked about shopping then, I didn't want to think of him right now. She gracefully complied.

When I was done we got ready to go back to Forks. I didn't want to leave, but I did have a curfew. I reached in my pocket for my cellphone to look at the time. Only to find my phone was not there. I checked my other pocket. Alice noticed my fuss.

"What's the matter?" she said giving the waitress a credit card before I could complain.

"I can't find my phone." It was definitely not with me. I thought obsessively about the last time I remembered having it with me. I was never forgetful, but I was very distracted from the moment I got in the car. So much I could remember my thoughts far better than what had happened.

"Maybe you dropped it in the car." it seemed likely so I felt hopeful. We reached the car shortly after. Sure enough, it was in the gap between the seat and the door. Which happened often since I kept it in my jeans so I didn't have to carry a purse. I picked it up to look at the time, it was almost nine. Then I saw the tiny envelope at the top of the screen. I had ten texts and fifteen missed calls, something was up. All the texts were from Jake, most calls from Billy, strangely two calls from Angela and a voice message. I read the texts first.

"Is everything all right?" asked Alice, noticing my expression. The color was draining from my cheeks as I read text after text from Jake then finally one from Angela that I hadn't seen before asking where I was. Then I heard some of the messages that Billy had left.

"Yes." I said unconvincingly. "I just need to go. Right now." We got in the car. I was so glad Alice drove like a maniac.

3.

"What happened?" Asked Alice as we reached the highway. I'd been naive before when I'd thought that she was driving fast. I did nothing to discourage her. She looked worried, truly concerned. I didn't feel like lying. She was honest to me, so I thought I'd return the sentiment.

"Jake's been trying to get a hold of me since seven. His friend Embry is been sick all week and when he went to his house to check up on him today, his mom told him that Embry was gone." She was enraptured by my tale, as if she knew what I was talking about. "Then I don't know why, but Jake and Billy had an argument. Jake left home and that must have been when Billy tried to get a hold of me. Angela left me a voice message asking where I was, that Billy called asking about me." I sighed. This was bad.

"What did she tell him?" Alice asked, with wide eyes.

"I don't know, she didn't say. I'll call her." I did. She picked up right away. "Ange?"

"Bella, you're all right! I was so worried when Billy couldn't find you!" She sounded terrified. I felt bad for inconveniencing her.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm still with Alice, but on my way home. Ange, what did you tell Billy exactly?" I wasn't mad, but my anxiety was leaking into my tone.

"He called thinking you were here, I told him you weren't and he asked if I knew where you were. I told him you might be with Alice Cullen." My heart sank. Billy knew. Angela heard my sigh. "I'm so sorry, Bella, was I not supposed to say that?"

"No, that's fine Ange. You told the truth." I shouldn't have lied. Actually, I should've lied better. Warning her might have been a good idea, too.

"He sounded upset. But I thought it was because he couldn't find you." My brain was working in overdrive. How to fix this? I needed to get off the phone first.

"Yes, he probably was just worried. I have to go Angela, but thanks anyway. And again, sorry for saying I was with you." How had I been so careless?

"Don't worry, just let me know what happens, ok?" she said and after more apologies, she hung up.

"Fuck." I sighed. Alice stepped on the gas. I was sure she'd heard my conversation.

"You can say that again." I started texting Jake that I was fine and I had lost my cell. "I'll think of something, Bella." She looked determined. I didn't know if I should text Billy or not, calling him was out of the question. He would immediately ask where I was. Then Alice's phone rang. She took it out of her pocket with ease, her control of the steering wheel never faltered.

"What?" Alice said and I immediately tensed. Then I heard his voice and felt even worse.

"Billy Black was here. He doesn't look happy and he's considering going to our house, Alice." I could tell how worried I was because I was able to overlook everything questionable about that sentence and focus on the one part that affected me the most at present. Billy wanted to go to the Cullen's house?

"What do you suggest, then?" Alice calmly asked. Edward answered right away.

"Mike Newton got home three hours ago." My confusion grew at his words. I stared Alice she looked distracted, like she was not looking at anything around her anymore. She was so intent in whatever she was thinking or seeing that I thought of taking over the wheel. Then she looked at the road again, relief clearing her concerned expression.

"It might work, its still the best we have. Meet you there." Edward didn't answer. Alice put away her phone.

"Why does he know Billy was at my house? Or Mike at his house? And what did he mean when he said he wanted to go to your house? How did he-" I asked, staggered by the call. Alice interrupted me.

"You caught that?" she looked impressed and I had no patience for that. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, there's no time to explain. But this is what we're going to say. You went to your father's home after school. Then, you decided to go visit Mike since he just got back and ended up spending the afternoon with him. You left you cellphone in your truck and that's why you didn't answer. As far as going out with me, you can just tell Billy that Angela was wrong." I frowned it seemed too easy.

"How is that supposed to work if my truck is still at Charlie's? If Billy was there he must have seen it." I should have parked it elsewhere. I'd been so excited that I'd been careless.

"Edward took care of it." I didn't let my mind linger on what that may mean. There was also a big reason why this wouldn't work.

"He'll never believe I was with Mike. It's not like I go out of my way to say good things about him." Alice looked frowned slightly.

"You can tell him that you went to visit him because he wasn't here today. You took him his homework or something. It's a stretch but it might work, it really is our best shot." said Alice. She took an unexpected turn into an isolated road instead of going across town. "Act confident and they will believe you."

"Fine." I looked at my cellphone. It was a message from Jake.

_Where are you, are you ok?_

Asked Jake. Lying would be easier if I lied to him too. I told him where Alice said I was. His answer wasn't helpful to calm my nerves. It painted quite simply how credible the story was.

_WTF? Are you joking?_

I groaned as I typed furiously in response.

"We're almost there." Said Alice, turning off her headlights as we returned to civilization. Alice stopped, at incredible speed she got off the car. "Come, Edward is around here." I was reluctant to follow her now, I'd felt him before she said anything. Mike's house was two blocks down. Alice had parked in a small dirt road no one ever went to.

We walked down to the main street and in a concealed small path I saw Edward, standing by my truck. He looked mad as he stared at Alice. When he looked at us, the feeling in my head intensified, I rejected him furiously.

"I know." Alice said with guilt and a streak of stubbornness. Edward hadn't said anything but it was so clear what he was thinking that there was no need for him to speak. I recognized the "I told you so" look that I gave Jake almost every day. When he didn't answer I took advantage of the moment to ask a much needed question.

"What the hell?" I said loudly, as I gestured towards my truck. Edward pried his eyes away from his sister and looked at me in that condescending way he had. His gaze was as intense as ever.

"Jump starting a car is not difficult. Not that it was necessary since you leave a spare key in the sun visor." He said handing showing said key to me, with raised eyebrows. Again, his cocky tone annoyed me. I took the key in a quick, hostile movement. He didn't react to my theatrics in any way. We steadily glared at each other.

"Does that make it ok for you to drive it? And what were you doing at my house?" I was truly outraged. All the anger he got out of me in Biology came back in full force.

"My intervention would've been unnecessary if you hadn't been so careless." he'd moved towards me, and even though he was significantly taller than I was I squared my shoulders, he was just so patronizing. My hands balled up into fists involuntarily. I stepped towards him.

"Who do you think-" I began and Alice moved to stand between us. She gave Edward a look that I didn't quite understand but that was too quick for me to interpret. He gave a step back. Then she looked at me.

"He moved your truck so they wouldn't see it and told us about Billy. It would be a lot harder to fix this without his help. If you don't go, this will be pointless. So go." I didn't move. "Now." I groaned she was right. Not that I wouldn't demand an explanation as soon as possible. I couldn't resist glaring at Edward before I moved; he was already reciprocating the expression.

"Fine." I said and started walking away. Then I stopped before moving too far. "Are you going to be fine?" Edward looked reluctantly amused, which was shocking given his previous mood, he must have a mood disorder. Alice rolled her eyes.

"Yes, just go! Billy will be here ten minutes after you text him." Her confidence encouraged me. I'd better do as she said. Edward crossed his arms over his chest. Now it was his turn to answer to nobody's question.

"I know." He said quietly through gritted teeth but he wasn't speaking to me. Alice looked stubbornly smug. I stopped again. They looked like they couldn't believe I was doing that. Alice raised her arms in a silent question.

"Thanks for everything." I said at a normal volume that I knew they could hear. Alice couldn't help to smile so genuinely that it was as if we weren't in this bad situation. Edward didn't smile but he didn't frown. I took that as all the approval you could get from him. I rang the doorbell. I turned to look at them one more time before Mike opened but they were gone.

"Bella!" I had never seen Mike so surprised in his entire life. He was wearing a gray shirt and ninja turtles pajama bottoms. He smiled widely when he blinked several times and realized I was still there. I contained my groan; I knew that smile too well. He would read too much into this.

"Hi." I said with a smile that hopefully he found compelling. "May I come in?" I was barely done with the question before he answered.

"Yeah, sure!" He said with a shocked tone, I got sidetracked from his expression since I thought I'd heard something growling in the distance. I must be really losing it.

Convincing him to lie for me was shockingly simple. Fortunately, his parents were out, they'd left for dinner. They did that almost every Friday as far as I knew, that's why Mike always wanted to ask me to come over on Fridays. I couldn't believe I was actually here.

"Would you like something to drink, while we wait?" he said as I took off my jacket and threw it over the chair. He ogled me as I did that. Great, now I'd been the one that had come to him. I wonder what sort of ideas he would get from this impromptu reunion, when he usually got his hopes of if I did something extreme like smiling while saying good morning.

"Do you have soda?" He smiled. I felt Edward all around me and I wondered why they hadn't left yet. I hoped they couldn't hear our conversation, I was almost convinced they could if they wanted to. I was trying to be nice to Mike but having them hear it made me uncomfortable.

"Yeah, let me get it. Are you hungry?" I shook my head.

"No, I just had dinner, thank you." I sat down and texted Billy. His reply was immediate.

_Stay right there, I'm coming over._

Attempting to appear innocent, I texted him Mike's address and hoped he believed me. Mike came from the kitchen with a tray. Two sodas and some popcorn.

"So why are we lying?" he said with a smile as he opened his soda. I hadn't thought of that. I made something up, borrowing Jessica's plan for the evening and arranging it a bit.

"I just needed an alibi. I went to Seattle this afternoon when Billy asked me specifically not to. So I told him I was with you instead. He's coming over now to see if it was a lie." I said in a tone I recognized in most of my classmates whenever they referred to their authority figures. Deprecating and defiant. Mike laughed.

"Bella," he said with a grin as he shook his head "I thought you were one of the good ones. What was so important in Seattle that you just had to go?" I froze. I got a text. I looked down at it and to stall.

_You went to a rock concert at Columbia City Theater._

The text said.

_Thanks!_

I texted Alice in return. I momentarily tried to remember when I'd given her my number. Then I thought of my truck parked outside. I guess getting a number was nothing.

"There was this concert, an old friend asked me and I didn't think about it I told her yes." Mike smiled widely, probably because I admitted said friend was female. "I just had to go, you know?" He laughed.

"Look at you! Lying to go to a concert in another town. It's a whole new side of you Bella, I feel like I don't know you anymore." he said this as if it was a really good thing. Then he put his hand on my hand and I knew why. He wondered what else could change. I smiled and took my soda as an excuse to remove my hand. I felt awkward and embarrassed. Edward's presence intensified in my head. I pushed him back with annoyance.

"I'm the same, Mike. I just had a moment of spontaneity that has obviously gone really wrong." This was true. Mike shook his head.

"No, Bella, you can get away with this." He patted the hand that was resting on my lap. "I'll help." He said with a wink. I was already holding my soda so I had no excuse to move my wand away, blissfully, a text relieved me from his touch.

_Billy will be here in one minute._

I found it odd that she should feel the need to tell me that. It did nothing to appease my anxiety. However, I appreciated the gesture, anyone else would've just left by now. But she was still out there, making sure I was fine.

_Thanks for your help, Alice. You're a good friend._

I texted back quickly. I heard a car pull over. Mike was talking about his day with an eager smile. He rarely needed me when he started talking, he went on with minimum encouragement. I got an answer from Alice.

_My sister had to go, but I'll send this message to her. Billy is here._

I stared at the words in my phone. The bell rang once I finished reading it and Mike sprung from the couch with a confident smile. Despite my dread for the upcoming discussion that was to come and my dismay for Mike's newfound confidence in our inexistent romantic relationship, my mind was elsewhere. Then I saw Billy's expression. One thing was clear, I had underestimated his aversion to the Cullens.

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**Thanks for reading. And thank you Butterfly Wish for every single correction. **


	6. Chapter 5

**Thank you Butterfly Wish for all of your help :)**

**Since gabby871 mentioned I sort of got it in my head to publish Edward's POV. Here it is. **

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1.

I glanced around swiftly and easily identified a spot that would optimize my view of Bella Swan's house. In the back of my mind I located the minds of every person in proximity. Their mundane concerns were neither familiar nor relevant and not what I was after. All that mattered was that not one of them would see me as I climbed up the tree I had previously selected. I hid myself between the branches and sat down, hearing how every living creature at a close distance scurried as far as possible from the dangerous predator: me.

I had a clear view of most of her house; I could see the building as well as the driveway and the old truck parked in there. There were trees that hindered my view of the street, but it was not important. By the time anyone reached the beginning of the short street I would hear his or her thoughts and determine whether I had to alert my sister or not. Which was my primary motivation for being here; the safety of my family was my job.

Any form of relationship with Isabella Swan was unsafe. Alice was not here for that first encounter with the Quileutes so she had fewer inhibitions regarding our dealings with them. The foundation of our relationship was weak, always on the brink of disruption. Their tolerance was feeble and my father refused to see that. Alice was partial to his optimistic perspective. Possibly because it suited her need to socialize with the girl.

Of all the people in Forks High, she had chosen the one individual whose involvement with us could destroy a treaty that lasted seventy-two years. And all because she wanted a new shopping partner. I acknowledged that by being here I was enabling that. Thus, my self-disgust.

I understood the appeal; the Swan girl was an interesting subject. Intriguing enough to dim my usual resolve to keep Alice from her folly and promote her friendship with the girl in hopes of obtaining information I so deeply desired and I could not get from her hauntingly quiet mind. In her presence I was usually torn between my unrelenting yearn to hear her thoughts and my equally fierce curiosity to understand her nature. It had been two weeks after I had first laid eyes on her and I still could not make sense of the dissimilarities she held in contrast to her peers and the similarities she possessed with our kind. Perhaps I was going about it the wrong way and she was a separate being altogether.

All I came up with was pointless speculation, incoherent thoughts formed from incomplete data. Knowledge was not obtained through incomplete data. And I knew so little about her. I wanted to know more to be able to understand. I knew well that the price to pay when I didn't tend to my analytic nature was the void of doubt. Perhaps a threat not as defining as my thirst but quite demanding in its own way.

I longed for any form of answer in such a way that I had agreed to this disgraceful job. It was certainly demeaning and childish. It was shameful that I could not keep my desires in order, mostly because I prided myself on being in such good control of myself. And yet, I was here sitting on a tree out of pure curiosity. I sighed; I had to put a stop to this. How easily I criticized my sister and yet I was no better than her. In fact I was worse since at least she attempted to satisfy her curiosity by directly approaching the girl. While I, watched from the sidelines.

My one attempted conversation had gone awfully wrong. It was merely hours away that I had voiced my curiosity so openly that I offended her. That behavior was not acceptable. No matter how much I thought I knew her after observing her for many days I possessed no particular distinctions to demand answers from her. Especially when my inquiries required so much of her. Truly, I had made an ass of myself. I'd better right my errors with her and offer her a sincere apology on Monday. Fortunately, it would be simple since we were Biology partners now.

I smiled at that. I acknowledged that I was being petty but that didn't put a damper on my high spirits. I was secretly eager to hear Mike Newton's thoughts on Mr. Banner's decision. I felt no sorrow for Mike since he had no one to blame but himself; he was lazy and offered no real stimulation for Bella who was indubitably intellectually superior. He slowed her down. She would have no problem with me, I would be a worthy lab partner. And unlike Mike, I would not be leering at her for the entire duration of the class. How it annoyed me to hear his repulsive daydreams. I couldn't escape his filthy thoughts that came incessantly all throughout the day. Even when we were not a school he needed little encouragement to unleash his depraved imagination. Earlier today while I was keeping my resolve to not encourage Alice any further, I went to the record shop looking to distract myself. I got Mike Newton's thoughts on Bella instead. He returned from a trip with his father and they were unloading merchandise into their store. Which incidentally is in proximity to the record shop. I've become reluctantly familiar with Mike Newton's mind, but how that a pair of hiking booths he somehow associated with Bella can sexually arouse him is beyond my understanding. And to make matters worse his disgusting musings reminded me of Bella Swan yet again.

My determination was deemed pointless. After the record shop I'd lasted perhaps an hour before deciding to come to her house. Alice said that Bella had lied to the Quileutes to be able to accompany her, which was not surprising. My sister and I had behaved similarly. While deception to keep our true nature concealed to the humans was a tedious necessity, keeping secrets amongst each other was quite the novelty. We rarely ever indulged in such practices unless it was indispensable to protect our privacy. Lying was also ineffective when attempted against Alice, Jasper or me. Acting together, however, the three of us could successfully keep information from the others. Which was an oddity.

For tonight's outing Alice had encouraged Rosalie and Emmett to go hunting on a nearby town. They convinced Jasper to join them when he refused since Alice had announced she wanted to stay home and redesign my image. Again. No one saw anything irregular in that since we were all, in different turns, victims of her need to renew our appearances. Carlisle and Esme already had an outing prepared; they would go to the theater in Seattle and were not going to be available until Saturday morning. Which left me to seek entertainment elsewhere. Alice said I was free to do as I pleased but I knew better, being far from town would not be possible for me tonight. I was even forced to leave concert tickets I had purchased for tonight unused. I would not be appeased until they came back and Bella informed us that the Quileutes had not noticed her absence.

The need to deceive was simple: our family held different opinions on Bella Swan. After that first day of witnessing some of her peculiarities, it was clear we had to make a decision on how to proceed. Had she been alone we would've approached her, I had no doubt in my mind of that, but Alice offered us a piece of information that complicated everything; Bella not only lived with the Quileutes but she was considered a family member to Billy Black, the chief elder of the tribe.

Our complex relationship with the Quileutes was exactly why I was reluctant to return to Washington when Carlisle first considered the idea. I was wary of the tribe and their motivations remembering all to clearly how eager they had been to attack us on that first encounter. Their desire to destroy us was not diminished by the fact that we outnumbered them. Upon receiving our peace offering they pretended they were amicable, but unlike Carlisle I could hear their minds. They always hated and mistrusted us. Back then Alice and Jasper were not even in our family, so naturally I feared they would react badly when they were informed of the addition to our family. In spite of this factor, they did not respond negatively and as soon as Carlisle sent word of our impending arrival, the treaty was reinstated.

Carlisle gave no second thought to the prosperous turn of events. Always accepting a favorable outcome as a sign of good faith, Carlisle used the gesture as a prediction of a better relationship with the Quileutes. I've never been as easily persuaded and I'm suspicious when a complicated situation is resolved with ease, so I remained skeptical. Jasper and Rosalie agreed with me on this, since Rosalie's nature is to contradict everything and Jasper's inexperience with the shape shifters made him uneasy. Always the military man, no threat was considered minor. At Carlisle's request we ceased our discussions, as he explained that nothing would come of it anyway until we reached Washington. As usual, our father was correct.

A few days after our arrival it became evident why they had no trouble accepting two other vampires to roam in their lands without feeling vulnerable. Their pack of defenders was back. Billy Black didn't inform us of this, my suspicion was that they had no intention of us knowing. But werewolves are uncontrollable beings, and at some point they had crossed over to our lands. Emmett discovered the scent of one of them in one of the vaguer limits between our territories. He remembered their unpleasant scent from our first meeting and informed us that he estimated up to three werewolves living at the reservation. That settled matters at least for me; it explained why they felt protected and also, why our dealings went smoothly. They happily overlooked the fact that those three young werewolves were no match for a coven of seven fully grown vampires. We could leave them have their peace, so we did not mention the invasion to our territory.

It was in this mindset that we met Bella Swan. That day at lunch, I detected curiosity in most of my siblings. Jasper was mildly alert, he was well aware that even if the girl was an immortal she would be easily contained in the event of her posing a threat to us. He joined Alice's excitement for having made a new friend. Rosalie was curious to an extent, but mostly she was relishing at having so many mortals pining after her all morning. We'd barely had any contact with people outside our group while living in Denali so she missed the attention. Emmett on the other hand had no mind for Bella whatsoever. He had little patience for preambles; if we decided we would befriend her he would pay attention, until then his concern was other. He had downloaded a video game the night before and wanted to play with it, he was frustrated because Esme had confiscated it before we left in the morning. He was not allowed to get detention on the first day of school.

Emmett's frustration paled in comparison to what I felt from the moment I realized I couldn't hear her. That was the pressing issue in my opinion and Alice found it amusing until she realized she couldn't see her future. My curiosity grew and we decided to talk to Carlisle. Carlisle was, as I expected, enraptured by my description of Bella Swan's physical traits. Her pale looking skin, her musical yet discreet tone of voice, her brown eyes. She was intelligent and seemed young. She had eaten human food and had a heart beat. Alice's ability and mine were useless against her. His curiosity grew; we had never encountered that before. Alice shared what she had learned at gym class, the entire family was present and interested to learn more about her. Until she mentioned that Bella lived with the Quileutes. Specifically Billy and Jacob Black.

I had been so mesmerized by my own frustration I did not care to think of where or who she lived with. It changed everything and in my eyes, it made her all the more interesting. My sibling's minds, however, went in another direction entirely. Rosalie was furious. She decided that Bella was the reason why the Quileutes had been so nice all along. Jasper's mind easily followed her reasoning; his innate pessimism persuaded him that Rosalie_ must_ be correct. As proof he reminded us of a very decisive factor: hadn't she already thwarted my mind reading and Alice's visions? That was unheard of, he freely implied that she was doing it on purpose and that strengthened his argument. It was impossible to change their minds after that. .

Even now, as I hide in this tree I don't understand why, but I vehemently refused to believe in Rosalie or Jasper's theory. Irrationally so, since Rosalie was actually making a valid point. I simply didn't believe it, but having no proof I couldn't immediately discredit her. Alice didn't say it, but she agreed with me. Bella didn't seem threatening to her.

Carlisle, having dealt with us for too many years to take sides, decided to wait. We would go on with our lives. No one would harm Bella Swan but we would be vigilant. Alice was encouraged to keep a friendship with her; after all they had already spoken. That way, we would find more about her, hopefully without alerting the Quileutes. As usual, I was asked to pay attention to the thoughts around us. For all of Carlisle's attempts the house was already divided, hence our current predicament. Friendly conversations in class were one thing; to have one of our family members alone with the girl implied a different sort of risk. Alice never lied to Jasper, and so it surprised me that she had agreed.

It was already eight; I heard that from a woman that lived two houses away from Bella's house. She was relieved since it was her kid's bedtime and the screaming child was already tired. Alice promised to be here before ten, Bella had a curfew. I groaned, Alice was going to be insufferable if she got away with this little trip. For the looks of it, she would. One more hour and I could return to less degrading endeavors.

Rosalie was wrong. Bella was not a threat. I was almost convinced she wasn't entirely aware of what she was. She had to know she was different but she didn't understand how. There was a straightforward innocence to her that Rosalie seemed to overlook, it seemed such an essential part of her that I could not understand how they had missed it. It was obvious to me. She wasn't out to harm us either. She knew what we were; I'd seen Jacob Black's mind. I only told Alice and we agreed to keep it to ourselves to not worsen the situation. Bella didn't seem to react to this fact. I'm ashamed to say I'd followed her in the minds of others, paying particular attention when she spends time with my sister. She didn't treat her any different than she treated her peers, she was kind and friendly to her. Which could mean a thousand different things, or, it could mean that like Jacob, she didn't believe the Quileutes. Whatever it was, Bella was not a threat. I was violently torn from my reverie; a familiar voice assaulted my consciousness.

_...Maybe not with Angela, maybe she is with that other girl. The loud one. _Billy Black struggled to remember the name of Jessica Stanley. He was coming here.

2.

Billy's thoughts were loud and clear because I'd been waiting for them. I tensed; he was close to the house but not quite there yet. I listened closely, looking to assess the situation. I cursed myself, for all the waiting I had undergone I hadn't elaborated a contingency plan in case the Quileutes came here. I also hadn't expected Billy Black of all people to show up, Jacob Black would've been a more reasonable alternative.

_...Not with the Cullens_. Billy thought with despair. _Angela must be wrong. She can't be with them. _This was bad; he already knew she was with us. This wasn't a moment to linger on our mistakes, but to solve them.

Harry Clearwater was driving Billy to the house. He was thinking something along the same lines as Billy_. I knew this would happen. I told Billy that. It was only a matter of time. He should've let her go long ago. She was going to go looking for her own kind eventually. _I frowned, making sense of Harry's words and the images evoked in his mind. Harry Clearwater thought that Bella was a vampire. He didn't understand why Billy allowed her presence at the reservation. He remembered how Billy had never admitted that Bella was a vampire. _I don't care if he didn't say it. Those boys didn't phase for nothing. And the Cullens just got here. _In Harry's mind I saw that the belief was that Quileutes only phased when in proximity of vampires. He was right; we had not set their transformation it in motion. Bella had.

_I don't think she's with that boy, the one that's always following her around. _Thought Billy, picturing Mike. _Or maybe she is, I just don't have his number. I'd ask Jake... _He remembered an argument he and his son had an hour ago. _Better do this alone._ He went over every person Bella had mentioned the past week. The further he looked back the less hopeful he was. He looked out the window and saw a truck similar to Bella's. _I hope it's not in the driveway. _It made sense. If her car was there and she wasn't answering, it meant she was stranded somewhere without any form of communication. Perhaps it was unwise of me, but I decided that heightening Billy's emotional state would work against us, I had to act quickly. Knowing they were close I leapt from my hiding place and broke into her truck. They weren't too far, I had to be silent.

As I opened the door of the car, her scent hit me. The car was impregnated with it. I didn't dwell on that. There was a key in the sun visor, I left it alone, I couldn't turn it on. It was so loud Alice could probably hear it all the way to Port Angeles. I shifted the gear to neutral and I dragged it to where it was not visible. I barely made it; it was tricky to keep it from making noise. It was so impractical to have such an old car. I wanted very much to hear Harry, but my attention was drawn to Billy as not to miss anything. Harry Clearwater stopped in front of the house.

_She's not here,_ thought Billy. His relief at not seeing the truck was momentary, then he was back to suspicion.

"Where do we go now?" asked Harry. His mind still skeptical. Billy stopped thinking about where Bella was for a moment and took in his expression.

"I know you don't understand," he told Harry "but I have to find her." Harry nodded.

"I do understand that. We'll make sure she's fine." _That doesn't change anything_ "but what will happen if she is with the Cullens? You said she would stay away from them but what if they didn't? And what if she liked them?" _Kids don't listen and maybe she's tired of being alone all the time._ Harry Clearwater didn't hate her. Even if he suspected she was a vampire he had it in his heart to feel affectionate and sorry for her. He felt she was lonely, that she had no one like her to talk to. He briefly thought of his daughter, a girl close to Bella in age. He thought that if his daughter was in that position he'd want her to be with people like her.

"She said she wouldn't."_ I believe her._ He was trying to lie to himself but he didn't believe it. He just didn't want to believe it. And if he was in denial we might still be able to deceive him. "And if they get near her, I'll speak to Cullen myself." said Billy in a very dictatorial tone. He meant every word. His thoughts filling with hate when he thought of my father's face. Harry Clearwater was immediately alert.

"You can't just go to their house, they might attack you." I rolled my eyes but hoped he believed Harry. Billy was already trying to remember the exact location of our house._ Sam, Jared and Paul are nothing to seven vampires. They have their hands full as it is._ The wolves, he pictured them in human form. They were just children. And currently they were busy taking care of a new member to their pack. So there were four now. I barely paid attention to Harry's memory on him since Billy's determination grew by the second.

"If that's the only choice I have, I will. Let's go back to the Reservation if Bella is not there now, we will go to the Cullens." _It would be best to alert the pack of our whereabouts while we are there_. Alice was not seeing this, was it because she was with Bella? Harry didn't say another word as he started the car and drove back._ She can't be with the Cullens. Or everything I've done was for nothing._ Thought Billy with severity. He was deeply unhappy and worried. They were out of my range now. It was time to act.

If we moved fast, we might deceive Billy as well. I ran through the options Billy had, Bella would have to be at someone's house to make this credible. Angela was out of question since she had spoken to Billy. I was clearly desperate since I considered Jessica, I had no doubt that the girl was so infatuated with me that she would agree to help Bella. But I also remembered she was in Seattle; she had gone to that outing I had refused to accompany her to. Eric, Tyler and Lauren were with her. Ben Cheney and Austin were at the movie theater watching a kung fu film. With great dismay I realized who was our best option, regardless of my disgust.

I got off the truck, trying to concentrate only on the call and not on Bella's scent and I dialed Alice's number. She picked up after one ring.

"What?" She answered; I tried to contain my bad mood. I knew Mike's mind and yet I would force Bella to be alone with him in his house?

"Billy Black was here. He doesn't look happy and he's considering going to our house, Alice." Bella was too close to her so I would omit the other details I learned. I wasn't sure if she was aware of the existence of the wolves.

"What do you suggest, then?" Alice calmly asked. She was trying to appear calm when she wasn't. And then, against my better judgment, I gave her my conclusion.

"Mike Newton got home three hours ago." No need to feel her in, she would look at Mike's future to see how feasible the plan was. Bella's presence made it difficult to be certain of the outcome but it was better than knowing nothing.

"It might work, it's still the best we have. Meet you there." She hung up and I sighed. I had to go to Mike Newton's house. After putting back the broken handle as best as possible, I returned to her truck. Her scent enveloped me entirely now. It made her presence far too real, which oddly enough ignited my bad mood.

Judging by Billy's thoughts, this commotion had started when he couldn't get a hold of her. Which probably meant she wasn't available to him. I knew she had a cellphone, so why didn't she answer it or gave him a call? Did she not have enough battery? Or maybe she misplaced it? Either way it was reckless. How had we thought it would work in the first place? There were too many variables we couldn't control, we relied far too much in our abilities and that made us dangerously confident. I turned off the headlights as I drove through an almost deserted path. I could see without it, no need to have people seeing me driving this car. We had attracted enough attention as it was.

I tried to calm myself down to whine down my irritation but I couldn't stop thinking about her and the idiocy of our actions when everything around me smelled like her. Her scent, like everything about her, was deceptively complex. Human scents aroused our hunger. Some smelled better than others but they were appetizing just the same. It incensed our thirst and dazed our judgment. Vampires had a pleasant smell that was very distinct, potent but not appealing. Bella must have blood running through her veins because I was slightly reminded of the burning in my throat whenever I inhaled. Not enough to put her in danger, controlling myself around her would be fairly simple, but it had its appeal. On the other hand, she had such a floral scent. Sweet, quite delightful and inherent only to her. But not quite like a vampire's scent, it was too appealing. I could've stayed here for hours trying to define it. I didn't have hours. I had to make it to Mike Newton's house.

I parked in a small dirt path that was concealed in plain sight. Only someone who came often would know to park there. I returned everything as it was and made as little noise as possible when I shut the door behind me. Then I got out of the car and unwillingly searched for his mind. He was alone in his house. His parents had left for dinner and he was taking advantage of his isolation by watching pornography in the living room. It was a very daring gesture in his mind, Tyler had boasted he did it all the time when he lend him the tape and of course he wanted to try it. He had not accessed his computer for that purpose since his father learned to read the browser's history. I contained a groan; I had come up with this plan and in moments Bella would be in that same living room. My temper flared. Maybe if I went inside and threatened him to be respectful to Bella and every other female for that matter I would feel better. Perhaps some form of physical aggression would emphasize my point.

_We're here, so don't kill him._ Alice thought, I heard the familiar sound of the Volvo's engine. I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. It was best if I concentrated on my sister's thoughts at present. After a few moments I heard them walking towards me and soon they were visible as well. I dropped my arms but made no effort to move. Alice knew me too well to mistake my expression. Bella Swan looked shocked and anxious. Upon seeing her truck, she was enraged as well.

"I know." said my sister with shame._ Don't even start; I know it was stupid to do this. Let's get out of this and then you can lecture me all you want._ She began looking forward, attempting at all cost to see the outcome of our actions. By the time Bella was merely a few feet away from me her anger was not as concealed as before, she expressed herself passionately.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed as she pointed at her truck and I looked at her instead of my sister. For all the trouble I had been through she didn't seem too appreciative. Then I noticed her labored breathing and the clear emotions in her face. Her mind was very quiet but her face was easy to read.

"Jump starting a car is not difficult. Not that it was necessary since you leave a spare key in the sun visor." Her recklessness had worked in my favor. And although I doubted anyone would ever want to steal that thing that she drove around in, I knew leaving a key in a car was imprudent. Her expression was familiar now, she was angry once more. It was hard to look away from all of the emotions I could appreciate in her face, I wanted so much to understand her. Against my better judgment her presence alone was distracting.

"Does that make it ok for you to drive it? And what the hell were you doing at my house?" She had every right to feel that her privacy had been violated. I could not, however, concede to her state of mind entirely.

"My intervention would've been unnecessary if you hadn't been so careless." I moved towards her, granted, to intimidate her. But always surprising, Bella did not step back. In fact, she defiantly stood closer to me. As small as she was, she was also brave. Her anger was clear in the way she was glaring at me, yet I was not scared. She seemed harmless. Alice ceased her attempts and turned her attention to Bella.

_Wow, Edward you really sure know how to charm them. She went from sarcastic vanilla to throwing a hissy fit in two seconds flat._ I resented the implication that I made her angry like that, surely she was in a heightened emotional estate due to the stressful situation we were in.

"Who do you think-" she was indignant. I was torn between my amusement at her melodramatic reaction and my annoyance for her stubborn attitude. She had contributed greatly to the disaster that was this evening and yet my help offended her. But I was mostly worried, hoping things would develop favorably.

_Ok, time for Bella to go in. We have to get her to Mike's house._ Thought Alice before she stepped between us. Now that she had mentioned Mike's name I was very angry._ Don't give me that look, this was your idea. And it may be the only thing that works, so drop it._ I moved away, taking in deep breaths to calm myself. Now that I saw Bella in front of me, thinking about leaving her with Mike seemed unfathomable.

"He moved your truck so they wouldn't see it and told us about Billy. It would be a lot harder to fix this without those things. And if you don't go, this will be pointless. So go." Bella didn't move. I took some mild comfort in knowing she was not enthusiastic about the plan either. For all of Mike's sense of entitlement regarding Bella, she seemed highly unresponsive if not entirely indifferent to his attentions. "Now." Alice repeated and Bella groaned, she glared at me one more time. I wasn't even thinking about her anymore, I was focused on Mike.

"Fine." She began to walk towards Mike's house and I wanted to stop her. I was so intent in this thought that it surprised me to see she had stopped. She looked at Alice. "Are you going to be fine?" I contained a smile, feeling utterly dazed by my emotions. But I could hardly help myself when I remembered how threatening Rosalie made her sound. Surely she was terrifying.

Alice rolled her eyes but her mind was flattered. She did not only like her, but she cared about her. Perhaps I had not judged the nature of their relationship fairly.

"Yes, just go! Billy will be here ten minutes after you text him." I crossed my arms again; Mike's thoughts were divided between cereal and chips for dinner. I sighed. Alice already knew I disliked Mike, even if she didn't know entirely why. Not that I knew either, he was just naturally infuriating.

_Relax; he's just a kid. She can take care of herself. Besides, Billy will be here very soon._

"I know." I said this to stop her from encouraging me. I'd been watching Bella's retreating figure, so I saw her stopping again. Alice raised her arms in confusion.

"Thanks for everything." She looked at both of us. Alice smiled widely, her mind reinforcing her initial thought, Bella was her friend. I was not as clear as to what her appreciation meant to me.

She reached the house and rang the doorbell, Alice put a hand on my arm, prying me to move. We moved away from the house, but stayed nearby, I heard Mike's thoughts attentively.

_Who the fuck is that?_ He was embarrassed thinking it was one of his parents; he took the case of the movie he'd been watching and put it under the cushion. He then felt stupid since he was certain his parents would not ring the bell, but come through the garage door. He went over the people that might show up at his house at night, I was strangely pleased that he hadn't even considered Bella. Then as he opened the door, my pleasure vanished quite violently._ Bella? Bella! Bella Swan is in my house! What is she doing here? Do I even care? NO._ His excitement increased as he thought about "possibilities" the night held.

"Bella!" He said excitedly and Bella smiled at him. I was not certain if it was genuine or not, or if I was imagining the distaste in her eyes.

"Hi, may I come in?" she looked very innocent in deed. And Mike complied eagerly. Too eagerly. _Hell yeah, you can even spend the night. Fuck yes; fucking Tyler is going to hear about this. She's never been to _his_ house._ He remembered how Tyler went on for weeks saying he had a better chance with Bella when she had just arrived because she sat with him at lunch. Once. He had bragged about it for weeks. Now, in his mind, he would have the advantage. _Hell, even if we don't do anything, It's better than just having lunch._ He then proceeded to run his eyes through Bella. The things I could do to you. His imagination was crude after the inspiration this afternoon.

"Yeah, sure," as she entered the house he gawked at her some more. I growled at the possessive feeling that overcame him whenever she was around, I hadn't even known I'd been containing myself. Alice glared at me. She had been too distracted to pay attention to my mood. I checked quickly, Mike hadn't heard anything. The door closed and Alice turned around and began to walk away while still looking for something useful.

"Where are you going?" I asked, not moving from where I was. Alice was still focused on her blurred visions.

"Home." She said simply._ Billy will be here soon, we have to go._

"He won't see us here." Alice finally looked at me without the fog of her visions between us.

_We can go, Bella will be fine._ She then studied my tense expression._ Are you seriously making such a fuss about a seventeen-year-old-boy, Edward?_ I groaned.

"It's not that." I vaguely wondered why that didn't seem entirely truthful. "I want to hear Billy's thoughts. It might indicate whether he will believe us or not. I know you haven't seen anything clearly yet." She sighed and looked irritated.

"I can't believe I missed so much already. After this morning I guessed I would see Bella more clearly." She'd had a vision, if you can call it that. She had worked very hard on seeing Bella's future and had gotten an image. We hadn't made sense of it yet, but Alice had interpreted it. She had decided that one of us, most likely her, would speak to Bella about our kind. She had gotten that from an image of Bella talking to someone, she felt some recognition in that other someone and scattered words. Nothing helpful in my eyes, to her it was everything. It meant Bella was in our future, and that we would be truthful to her. I required more proof to be hopeful.

"How about Billy Black's future? Have you tried that?" She rolled her eyes at me.

"I've been trying to get a hold of him since you called. I can't see much, just that he is waiting for her call." I frowned, this was very unusual.

"Alice, can you see Jacob Black's future?" She didn't question me, she tried. I saw an image of Jacob Black locked up in his room with loud music. "Can you see Harry Clearwater?" she tried, but everything was as confusing as it was when she attempted to see Bella's future.

_This better not be a new thing, I'm not going to be able to live like this._ She thought as she rubbed her temples.

"Did you actually think this plan would work?" I asked and she looked uncertain.

_It was the only plan I could see, even with Bella in it._ I nodded. We both didn't say anything else but it was clear. None of us thought this would work. She returned to her visions, I returned to Mike's thoughts. Bella looked uncomfortable, she texted Billy.

I listened to their conversation and did my best to ignore Mike. Then when Mike asked about why she was lying I realized we had not discussed it. The list of mindless mistakes seemed to be getting longer. I thought of a probable excuse, I came up with my unused concert tickets. I highly doubted that Mike would require proof but since we had made so many obvious mistakes tonight I was not willing to make another one. I now needed a way of getting the information to Bella. In Mike's mind I saw Bella sending a text.

"Alice," I said and she already knew what I would ask. She handed me her cellphone and I memorized the number.

_Why?_ I didn't answer I send Bella a message instead. Alice read it and then returned to her visions.

Upon reading my message Bella smiled. Her answer was simple.

_Thanks!_

She said. They continued their conversation and I listened, paying attention to Bella's every gesture in case I needed to intervene.

Billy was in Alice's mind. She had finally succeeded in seeing him. Two minutes. She thought as she easily calculated the time.

I knew she was not with the Cullens. She was with Mike after all. He seemed disapproving but relieved that it was anyone but us. Certainly he would think differently if he had access to Mike's thoughts.

I had no time to congratulate my sister since my intervention was required again, Mike had somehow thought it was acceptable for him to touch her hand and overcome by an incomprehensible ire, I sent a pointless message to give her an excuse to retrieve it.

_Billy will be here in one minute._

She eagerly took the opportunity I provided and removed her hand from his. I felt my guilt for spying on her assuaged by the fact that I was being helpful. We should go, since he is here.

"I will stay." I said before I even realized that was what I wanted to do. Harry Clearwater was angry. "Go home and I'll be there as soon as they leave." Alice nodded and left.

_Is one thing to be worried and another altogether to lie to them like that. Bella isn't in danger, there was no need to get the pack involved._ Apparently Billy had made it sound to Sam, he seemed to be the leader of the pack, that Bella was in danger. This, to justify their involvement. I frowned, since it was clear in his mind that the werewolves were involved now and he disapproved. I wanted to know the extent of their involvement but a message from Bella distracted me.

_Thanks for your help, Alice. You're a good friend._

I answered a brief response and turned to Billy's thoughts. He was feeling no remorse at all for lying to the wolves. Harry was not only disapproving but also angry. He had decided to stop thinking about it and respect his wishes, incapacitating me from seeing what the wolve's involvement entailed, he was intent on keeping any doubt from his mind. Herd mentality was useful in a hierarchy that worked like the one implemented in their community. When Billy went into Mike's house and noticed Bella's expression his confidence wavered. She looked so uncomfortable it was hard to believe she had spent an entire afternoon there. Harry's skepticism weighed on him, and his denial was not as easily maintained as it once was. Harry was waiting outside. My attention was on him.

_Embry needs them more than we do._ He checked his cellphone and seemed relieved when he noticed he didn't have any missed calls. He was expecting a call. _Sam will let me know when we get back. They must be back at the reservation by now._

I clenched my teeth. It was a matter of time before they told Billy what I already knew. Knowing that Bella was no longer alone with Mike I felt I could go. I ran fully aware of how injudicious my actions were. I reached Bella's house in minutes. It was empty and all was silent. The minds of those close were not a threat, and yet I sighed in defeat. Their scent was everywhere. The wolves knew we were here.

* * *

**What did you think? I would love some feedback. I'm considering including Edward's POV from time to time but in a different way. Would you like that? **

**Thanks for reading. **


	7. Chapter 6

1.

I stopped feeling Edward soon after Billy's arrival. He must have left. While his involvement was still confusing to me, it was not as pressing as the dread I was feeling now that I was alone in my truck with Billy. Harry had left so I could drive him; I guessed he asked for that so we could speak on the way back.

It was a tense, unpleasant silence. I wished he would speak so I would be distracted. From my dread of what he would say next and mostly, from Edward's scent. It was only natural that it was everywhere since he had driven my truck. I had to see the irony of the situation, hadn't I hoped earlier to be in my truck to be rid of his scent? Well, here I was and it felt that it was more intense than in his car. Perhaps due to how recently he had occupied it.

My apprehension for what was to come was marred by my annoyance. Edward taking my truck, being in my house and being judgmental and condescending. He had officially made my Friday entirely miserable. A less unjust side of me also reminded me that he had also helped, a lot, but I wasn't in a mood to accept that there were positive sides to his personality. Being angry with him was easier than concentrating on just how much trouble I was in right now. When I parked by the house, Billy barely said a word. I waited either way for further instructions. He finally spoke with a tired yet severe tone.

"We will talk about it in the morning. I'm very tired." I nodded. I guessed arguing with Jake had taken a lot from him. I silently helped him out. Once we were inside the house he went to his room and shut the door behind him. His actions spoke loudly; I was in very deep trouble. Jake was home, I could hear the music coming from behind his bedroom door, probably to ignore us successfully. I stood in the living room for a moment, watching the darkened house that felt more inhospitable than ever. Now there was an angry person behind every door, how did things change so quickly?

I shrugged it off and went to my room. I knew Jake wouldn't come to my room right away; he would wait until he was certain Billy was asleep before attempting a conversation. He'd want to talk about Embry and lets face it, find out why I was in Mike's house. Great, so I now had to lie to him as well.

I went to my room and waited, my mind so incessantly revolving around the details of the evening that I knew sleep would be hard to come by tonight. I could never let things slide past me like that, there were so many things that I wanted to know. It wasn't long before Jake offered me a distraction. He sneaked into my room barely half and hour after we arrived. Billy must have been tired; the house was in complete silence. He walked in unannounced and shut the door quickly and quietly behind him. He then looked at me with raised eyebrows and his arms crossed over his chest. This wouldn't distract me, I realized, I really didn't want to talk about it.

"What the hell were you doing at Newton's?" He whined as he stepped closer to my bed. To my surprise, he looked angry. I had expected him to be making fun of me. And just looking into his eyes I knew he wouldn't believe the lie, so I went in a different direction instead.

"I used him to get your dad to believe that I was with him all afternoon." I wondered why after a night of getting a lot of things wrong, I was risking telling the truth now. But it was Jake, I wouldn't lie to him. He frowned.

"Where were you then?" I sat up and gestured for him to sit with me on the bed. He did, looking tense and suspicious.

"Do you promise not to be mad at me?" I whispered and he looked worried. He nodded. I took a deep breath. "I went shopping with Alice Cullen." His eyes widened and his mouth opened widely with a gasp. I didn't tell him what I was really after when I went shopping. I wasn't comfortable enough to share my doubts yet. Not until I knew something.

"What?" he didn't look mad, but he wasn't smiling either.

"She's really nice, and I like her. We became sort of friends and I went out with her. You can't tell, Jake. Billy will kill me, he almost did." Jake's concern turned to suspicion.

"Are you messing with me?" He asked and I shook my head.

"No. It's true." He watched me for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes and sat inches from me. He cupped my face in his hands and inspected my expression. Thoroughly checking to find any sign of deception. I didn't even blink.

"Shit, you're not lying!" He said, dropping his hands.

"I told you, it's the truth. Billy texted me when I was on my way back but I left my phone in Alice's car." He smirked at my use of her name. "Then I got back to town and Mike agreed to lie for me." He rolled his eyes. I wasn't naive enough to share anything about Alice's strange ways of knowing what to do or Edward's involvement. Especially not his involvement. I would usually defend the Cullens but I doubted I could explain things in such an eloquent way that he would overlook the fact that Edward had been stalking my house for God knows how long. That bothered me more than the truck thing.

"I bet he did." He processed the information I had just given him. "Why didn't you go to your friend's house? Jessica or Angela?" Why did it matter that I had picked Mike? I explained. "Fuck, guess I'll have to get used to being the favorite one from now on. The Cullens, Bella, really?" he was amused now, I was secretly relieved. I knew Jake would understand. A surge of affection overwhelmed me. I took his hand, I was so grateful for having him in my life.

"Alice is great, she's my friend." His eyes widened a little. He tried to hide it but I knew he was astounded.

"Keep saying that, it will help you with Billy." He said with a smirk. "Fuck, Bella, we really outdid ourselves today. Billy must be rolling around in bed wondering where he messed up with us." I then remembered the reason why I'd gotten caught in the first place.

"What happened with Embry, Jake?" He sighed and laid down on my bed. His head on my pillow. There was just no room for him to do that but we managed to fit in.

"Embry took off." He said disapprovingly. He rubbed his eyes sleepily. "His mom doesn't know where he is. I wanted to go after him, you know? I told Billy what had happened, like an idiot thinking he might help. I even told him I could tell Sam if he would help. Do you know what he said?" Jake said, looking broken. I shook my head. "He said that we should let Embry be. That he'd come back whenever he's ready and that I should keep out of it." He was angry and with due right.

"What?" I was outraged.

"Yeah. The worst part is that I know he knows something, I swear. Maybe Sam saw something and my dad knows but he doesn't give a shit so he didn't tell me. What really pisses me off is that they say I'm part of the tribe and all that but when I actually ask for help they don't do shit. And I don't even care, I wouldn't mind if they don't tell me anything but you should've seen Embry's mom, Bella. She was desperate." He said. He'd definitely had a worst day than I had.

"Did you tell that to Billy?"

"Yeah, but he wouldn't listen. He said she had to understand her son was a man now or some bullshit and that I should stay out of it. I say screw it, I'm going to look for Embry tomorrow. Quil's coming, too." I nodded.

"Need help?" I asked and he smiled widely.

"From you, always." He said and he laid on his belly burying his face on my pillow. He yawned. It was almost one now. I was a little sleepy, Jake looked exhausted.

"Then we'll look for him tomorrow." I promised and he nodded, his eyes closing slightly. He smiled right before dozing off he spoke with his eyes closed.

"Since I'm all for pissing Billy off maybe you could ask the Cullens to help us. That will get the tribe's attention." I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me.

"Shut up, Jake." He chuckled and then fell asleep. Great, I wouldn't be able to move all night. He often fell asleep in my bed. Then I had to wake up early and kick him out so Billy wouldn't get the wrong idea. In the meantime, I had no intention of waking him up. I wanted to talk to Alice. I wanted to ask how everything had happened.

2.

I didn't hear when Billy left the next morning, but his door was open when I came out of my room. Jake woke up sometime in the night and went to his room; I was on the couch trying to read to calm myself down when he came out for breakfast. He noticed Billy's empty room but made no comment. Then he noticed my terrified expression and laughed. He took my book away and lectured me on how to manage being the bad kid without letting it get to my self-esteem. It relaxed me more than the book had. Maybe Billy was running errands and I was making a big deal out of it.

We had a really good morning and made an absolute mess while trying to flip omelets. It was midday and we were still cleaning when Billy came back. I had every reason to be scared before, he looked strained and enraged beyond words. He went straight to his room without a word to us. I was certain then, somehow, he knew the truth.

"What the hell? We're cleaning up!" Jake whispered to me as he took out a cloth and cleaned up some tomatoes that were in the middle of the kitchen floor.

"I don't think it's the eggs, Jake." My tension from before had increased exponentially. Jake frowned understanding my meaning. Usually he would've been amused that I was in trouble, but he'd seen his dad's face too. He understood the gravity of the situation.

"Think it over, Bella. Is there any way he could know you were with the Cullens?" He was trying to help. He was so good to me.

"No, I'm totally sure no one saw us." Alice and Edward seemed confident enough about that as well, and since last night with all the mention of Alice's knowing things I've been under the strong suspicion that they had alternative means to get information. Was that what Edward did all the time when I felt him in my head? Was he gifted like Alice as well? "Alice was gone long before your dad was there." And I doubted Edward let anyone else see him. Jake nodded and looked concerned. He sighed.

"This sucks." He mumbled and I rolled my eyes at him, I was so tense I sounded hostile.

"Thanks for stating the obv-"

"Bella," Billy's voice sounded louder in the otherwise quiet house. He was still in his room, so I would have to come to him. He didn't want Jake to hear. Jake took my hand and gave it a squeeze; he mouthed, "You've got this." I sighed and went to Billy's room.

He was as far away from the door as possible. He looked tired already despite the early hour. The hat he always wore was on his bed; he was looking at it intently. When I entered the room he said. "Close the door." I felt my stomach tightening and my heartbeat was so loud I could hear it. My head offered me heartfelt apologies, pleas of forgiveness and a promise not to ever do it again. And yet none of those options seemed feasible. Billy would not forgive me this time. My hope was redirected then, I hoped his punishment was not so severe. The door firmly closed, he began. I wondered if Jake would make an effort to eavesdrop.

"I know you were not with Mike yesterday, at least not the entire afternoon like you told me." His voice was low, I recognized his tone, and he was trying to control his temper. He still wasn't looking at me.

"I don't-"

"I don't want to hear it." His anger leaked into his tone. I better not talk. "I did not call you here to hear your side of the story, I know it already." How? "I'm just telling you this so you know exactly why things will change." I contained my need to pace around the room and cry out nervously for him to get it over with. I supposed the suspense was part of the punishment. "You are not, under any circumstance to have any form of contact with the Cullens. Do you understand what that means?" He looked at me for the first time.

"Yes, Billy." I tried to make my tone sound repentant, it only enraged him further.

"Apparently you don't. When I asked you the first time to stay away from them I though it was clear. That included addressing them, having a conversation. And you not only did that but you befriended the Cullen girl and went out of town with her." How did he know so much? Impossibly, my tension grew. Where had he been this morning? He must have been with the Cullens, according to Edward that had been his intention yesterday. Now I was mortified. Had he made a scene? Was the treaty broken? Would the Cullens leave then? This was far graver than I had anticipated; Jake didn't know the half of it. I wanted to ask but I remembered Jake's tactics throughout the years. The worst way to give yourself away was to give information they didn't already possess. I bit my tongue and listened before giving away more information. "Have I not explained the danger the Cullens pose to our people, Bella?" His composure was swiftly flowing out the window along with his need to keep it down. He was raising his voice and consequently I was provoked. Call it adolescence, I did not respond favorably to being talked to like that. Regardless of how justified his anger was.

"Yes." I answered as repentantly as possible. "But you never said why they're dangerous." How did that come out of my mouth? I internally groaned at my own stupidity and Billy's face turned red in anger. He took forever to speak, and when he spoke he had regained a normal tone. Which of course made him all the more terrifying. I looked down.

"Perhaps that was my mistake. You are not a child anymore, I should've given you some reasons for you to believe me." He looked down, and interlaced his fingers nervously. "You of all people should understand the importance of staying away from them." My eyes locked on his face. "Bella, I am not able to share with you the nature of our conflict with the Cullens." No need to mention I knew it already and it was ridiculous. "But I'm not breaking any promise by telling you some of your father's opinion on the matter." My heart stopped. What about Charlie? "He agreed with me Bella, he would not have wanted you to have any contact with their kind." My anxiety went out the window. I didn't care about being punished; there were more important things than being unable to leave the house for a month.

"Why?" Billy sighed.

"Bella, you're a smart girl. You can see that the Cullens are different. In many ways," he paused and took a deep breath "you could wrongly think they are like you." My frame stiffened. His intense brown eyes bore into mine. "But you are not. They are ruthless, cruel creatures that thrive on human suffering. They may appear friendly to you, they can be ingenious and they will lure you in and offer you their friendship. Once they have satiated their need for you, you will be disposed of, because you are not one of them. They have no real feelings, Bella. They are less than animals, they're heartless beasts." His words sprung with a fervor that transcended the moment we were in. In it, echoed the hatred of every generation of Quileutes that sincerely believed in the tales that constituted their heritage and wisdom. I understood now that Billy's hate was not only real, but it was also rooted from a fear whose depth I had not seen until now. I could see it in his eyes, as he spoke and for a moment I feared them as well. If for a second I believed in Jake's tales and I thought that the Cullens were vampires, supernatural creatures that drank blood of human beings to survive, Billy's emotions made sense. His feelings were real, and the Cullens had to be feared. "Your father left you in my care because he knew I understood their true nature. And he knew that when the time came, I would be able to warn you and keep you from their kind."

"Why did Charlie fear them, why would I need to be warned?" My voice was vulnerable, I was not angry anymore, Billy wasn't either. He looked worn, like a man much older than he actually was.

"He never said. But after he found you, he was never the same. We used to be really close, your dad and I. Sort of like you and Jake," he smiled grimly "as we grew older obligations and responsibilities pulled us in different directions but the bond between us remained strong. Do you remember my last visit to Phoenix, Bella?" Yes. Not long before my dad died.

"In Phoenix. At our house." Billy nodded. Charlie had been weird in those weeks, I was glad when Billy came because I thought maybe he could speak to him about it.

"Yes. After you went to sleep we talked. He was very upset. I never saw him like that. He made no sense. He talked about having dreams, seeing things that were not real. Confusing you and people in his head, nonsense like that. I thought he was having a meltdown due to stress from all the changes in his then he made me promise I would look out for you, if anything happened to him." I frowned, what went on in Charlie's head? "I didn't know what he was on about, for a moment I thought had a disease or something but he said he was healthy. But he was afraid." I frowned.

"Of what?"

"Them, their type of people." He sighed. "I will spare you the details of the nightmares that pushed him to ask this of me, but I know he meant them. I'm certain, that's why he came to me, because he knew I would believe him. I promised I would take care of you. I hoped I never had to complete that promise but when he died, I knew I owed it to him."

"Is that why you didn't want me to live by myself in Forks?" He nodded sternly.

"I can't protect you if you're away from our lands. All I can do for you, I can do at the reservation." This was not even beginning to answer all the questions that I had now.

"Billy," I looked down, "Did Charlie knew what I was?" He was looking at me, he stretched out his hands towards me and I took them.

"He knew you were his daughter and that he loved you, Bella. You were everything that made him happy." My heart warmed, but that was not the question. "He knew you were different, he told me so, and I understood. There are many things that we don't understand about how the world works, Bella. But I can tell you one thing," his hands squeezed mine "In all my years I have never met a girl as wonderful and good as you. You are brave, strong and truly like a daughter to me. You make everyone around you happy, I feel it myself and see it in my boy. Our lives became better when you came to live with us." For him to say that, when I always felt I had only made their lives more complicated, moved me. I teared up inevitably and he opened his arms towards me, I didn't think about it, I hugged him. It was so comforting to hug him when I had been so confident seconds that he wouldn't do that for weeks. "Your dad would be so proud of what you have become. So smart and such a good cook, too." I chuckled I wasn't really and he knew it. I moved away from his embrace and he wiped the tears that had managed to escape my control. "I hate to see you lost to what your father feared most." And all of a sudden the good feeling was gone again. My need to know came back with a vengeance.

"You won't." I whispered. And he nodded. He straightened in his chair and took a deep breath. I stepped back from him.

"There have to be consequences for your behavior, Bella, so you are grounded for the rest of the month." That sucked but it wasn't so bad. "I want you to come back straight away from school. You will not have any form of contact with the Cullens. If you need to switch classes to be away from them, I will speak to Principal Green. Even if Dr. Cullen already promised to make the necessary arrangements, I will take precautions as well." And just like that I was furious.

"Dr. Cullen, did you speak to them?" Billy turned stoic.

"Arrangements were necessary, Bella. He took it upon himself to make amends for his daughter's behavior." Again, no mention of Edward. "I'm still not pleased with you having to go to Forks for school, but until we find an alternative you will continue to go to that school. Temporarily, of course." My teeth clenched.

"What about the school year?" He looked remorseful but mostly firm.

"I'm sorry, Bella." He didn't look sorry. "You lost your privilege to an opinion when you deliberately endangered yourself by disobeying me. These are the consequences and I expect you to respond to them as an adult." I sighed. There was a long pause in which he watched me and I stared intently towards the floor as to contain my indignation. "Understand, I am doing this for your own good." I nodded once. Since there was nothing else left to say, I turned to leave. "I will rest now, tell Jake to keep it down, please." He said and I didn't look back as I closed the door behind me. I went straight to my room and dropped on my bed. Jake was there a second later.

"What did he say? I couldn't hear 'cause I had to call Quil. Are you grounded until you're 50? Because for yelling at him yesterday I only got until next week." He sat on the edge of my bed. I was too angry to find him amusing.

"A month, but he's taking me out of school." He didn't seem surprised.

"That sucks, Bells. But I think he went easy on you, if I'd been hanging out with the Cullens it would be my head over that TV instead of that ugly ass fish." I ignored his attempts to distract me.

"What am I going to do, Jake, can't he at least wait until the summer?" He held my hand.

"Sorry." He said and brushed some of my hair behind my ear. "I'll leave you alone. I have to go find Embry anyway." I was supposed to go to that. He noticed. "Don't worry about coming, Billy's pissed off as it is. So you can be fed up in peace but Bells, can you promise me something?" He was looking at my hand.

"Sure." It was never a question.

"Could you just, listen to Billy and keep away from them?" I groaned, not holding back with him like I had to with his father.

"Why, because they're vampires?" My sarcasm was met with an earnest expression from him.

"No, because it upsets my dad." His emotion took me by surprise. "I don't want him having a heart attack over this, he is less strong than he seems, you know. And all the deal with the Cullens, it really gets on his head. So just stay away from them, for me?" How could I refuse? I nodded. He gave me one of his most charming smiles and a wink and got up. "Go back to being angsty and hating the world now. Text me when Billy is awake so I can come back and pretend I was here." I nodded and reluctantly smiled. When he left, I was alone with my angry thoughts.

3.

I spent all weekend thinking about the Cullens, Billy's warnings and mostly my dad. Billy had obviously used him to convince me to stay away, but his desires had backfired, I was more interested on talking to the Cullens than ever before. I had to have been involved with their kind of people as Billy put it. It seemed obvious since Charlie knew about them.

I had little time; I truly believed Billy was taking me out of school as soon as he found an "alternative" so I knew I had to make most of the days I had left. I would speak to Alice in the parking lot if necessary. I hoped Alice hadn't gotten into too much trouble. Then again I wouldn't know what happened until we spoke.

Jake had a bad weekend. No news from Embry. Being in the house was not the best, Jake wasn't talking to Billy and I was still upset so my answers were a little curt. On Monday, after another warning from Billy to stay away from them I went to school. I was running a little late, and I cursed myself since talking before school with Alice would've been a good idea. The parking lot was almost empty when I got there; I took some comfort when I saw the Volvo, though. It meant they were still here. I don't know why I feared they wouldn't be, but after Billy's appearance at their house I didn't know what to believe.

Mike, who I hadn't thought about once all weekend, was smiling at me suggestively from the moment I reached the classroom. Which was also the same time I felt Edward around me. Great, so he was here as well. I wasn't sure if I was happy of that or not. I ignored Mike and sat down to think. Classes dragged on and I made very little effort to be involved in them, they were simply not important.

Although I had felt him all day, I was still slightly relieved to see Edward in his usual seat in Spanish. He didn't look at me or acknowledged my presence in any way so I did the same. When Spanish was finally over and it was time for Gym. I hoped to catch Alice in the locker room, so I almost ran there after class. She wasn't there so I waited until I had less than a minute to spare. Maybe I had missed her? I changed and went to the Gym, but she was not there either. I was very disappointed but not surprised, had I not expected something like that in the morning? Perhaps Billy was right and one of the arrangements Dr. Cullen made was to make Alice change classes. Why did he go along with Billy? Did he hate the Quileutes and wanted to keep away from them? Why was Alice the exception? It was a blow to have to be Mike's Gym partner again but it didn't matter, I would talk to her later.

I felt comforted by that thought, and went to lunch hoping to at least see Alice from a distance. I was not so lucky, she wasn't there yet. It wasn't until Rosalie joined Emmett and Edward and the last students came in the cafeteria that I understood she wouldn't come at all. To make matters worse, Jasper was not here either and it wasn't because of me. I would gladly stay out of his way, he was too scary. But if Jasper was also gone, I doubted Alice would be back for next period. Had Dr. Cullen made her leave? I felt awful, what had I done? I slumped in my seat without refraining my misery.

Angela sat next to me and apologized again for messing up with Billy, I shook my head and tried to soothe her but I know that she interpreted my bad mood as disapproval. I couldn't do more to comfort her at present, I was too concerned with my own issues. We ate lunch in silence, Mike had noted my unfriendly mood earlier and was less enthusiastic than in the morning. He sat next to me nonetheless.

"Did you hear?!" Kate didn't know I could hear her, she felt safe since two tables away from her. "Alice Cullen is not coming because she had a severe allergic reaction! I heard Edward Cullen telling Ms. Cope, she's not coming for at least two weeks!" I groaned at the story he'd given. I would be long gone in two weeks.

"How about Jasper Hale?" asked Jessica avidly. "He'll be practically single for two weeks. Is he coming back?" I rolled my eyes at that.

"He must have stayed home to take care of her or something. Who knows?" Kate answered, clearly elaborating a lie that appeased all of them. Ashley sighed.

"I wished I had a boyfriend that took care of me like that." She said and I stopped eavesdropping. I really couldn't care less about Ashley's daydreams. I let myself wallow in misery, if I didn't have Alice, what would I do now? To my surprise, I caught Rosalie Cullen looking at me twice. Her expression was decidedly unfriendly. I would've been offended but I've caused her sister to leave, so it was hard for me to respond aggressively, so I looked away. Edward stared at his food the entire time. I still felt him around me, though. I thought about what I had come up with over the weekend about his probing.

I would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day, as simple as that. I made no effort to eat and when the bell rang, I dragged myself to Biology with no word to Angela who still thought it was her fault I looked so upset.

Mike was going on about some sport and I didn't make an effort to follow. We went in the classroom and to my surprise, Edward was there and he was sitting in the table Mike and I usually used. I felt him around me, he looked a little amused. I looked at Mike and thought about my theory again. Mike looked confused and Edward didn't like him, which I was sure of. So maybe.

"Oh, um, what is Cullen doing in my seat?" He whispered in my direction. We were both standing by Mr. Banner. He spared me the trouble.

"Mr. Cullen will be working with Bella now. Here, you can work with Mr. Perkins and Miss Allen." He said and showed Mike to his new seat. I went to take my seat. Edward look as casual as ever, but he really was amused. I didn't know if I was supposed to talk to him or not so I didn't. I wondered why he was still here while Alice was forced to leave. Then I realized that asking him was all the hope I had left.

Mr. Banner began his lecture; since I was deciding whether or not to talk to Edward I paid no attention to him. I didn't know if he'd like to talk to me, surely he was angry at what had happened on Saturday. He didn't look angry now, but wasn't he always? said something about mitosis but I didn't hear it, because although Edward's voice was hardly above a whisper, I heard him loud and clear.

"Alice wanted me to apologize on her behalf." He was irritatingly stoic once more. I wanted to look at him but he was being so discreet. I forced myself to follow his lead.

"What for, I should be the one apologizing. I got you in a lot of trouble." I'd never spoken so low but I knew he would hear me. I tried to speak fast too, so in case someone heard they couldn't make out the words. Edward had no trouble hearing it. We were both looking at Mr. Banner.

"We both acted by our own volition. She apologizes because the consequences that will befall you will be greater."

"Greater? She's gone."At least I was still here.

"Again, it was her own decision." His calm tone momentarily reminded me of Billy's.

"So your father didn't make her?" I know he understood my sarcasm.

"It is not like that in our family. She was reprehended but her decision to leave was entirely her own. She will return, just not now." That sounded so arbitrary.

"What will she accomplish by leaving? And how come you got to stay? They didn't even make you change classes."He wrote something in his notebook, notes I realized. How did he have a mind to do that now?

"When Billy came visit," so gracious of him to put it like that "She made it seem like it was her fault, my involvement was greatly overlooked." No wonder Billy thought it all had been between us. "There is no suspicion of me approaching you."

"Why would she do that?"

"She didn't say, she only told me it was best if she went away for the time being. It will appease Billy. As far as her undermining my part in this, it allows me to talk to you now without the others suspecting. Alice made this possible so I would explain this to you and you wouldn't feel abandoned." I contained my smile; she was so nice to think of that. How could Billy say they had no feelings? He was terribly misinformed. "She also said you would have lots of questions." This amused him, I could hear it in his voice, I didn't know why. It didn't feel like he was teasing me.

"A few. She wasn't exaggerating about her gift. She sees how things will turn out?"

"Yes, in a way." From my peripheral vision I saw him smiling slightly. If I understood correctly, he was defying his father's wishes and probably his entire family's by speaking to me and he was smiling? Who would've known, Edward was a rebel.

"Where did she go?" Where had they vanished poor Alice?

"Another honeymoon with Jasper," he sounded disgusted, I tried not to smile at his tone but failed. I quickly recovered, though. "She's making amends for deceiving him." Bad news for Jessica, Jasper wouldn't be leaving Alice anytime soon. I was glad that Alice was happy.

"Why did she lie?"

"We were not supposed to befriend you, because you're involved with the Quileutes and clearly they're easily offended." I rolled my eyes and hoped he saw.

"Your family doesn't like me either, then?" I wasn't even a Quileute, how could they hate me?

"Not quite. You're oversimplifying a complex issue. No one holds a grudge against you personally, but we have learned to be careful whenever the Quileutes are involved as not to offend them with our actions. You were an unexpected variable that the treaty didn't include. Therefore, our hesitation to approach you is only natural. As far as the division of opinions, the distribution of my family members is not unexpected. I've observed the same division in previous occasions. While some of my siblings are in the tendency of adhering to more conservative ideas, the rest of us are more prone to assess the situation individually, which allows us to a wider spectrum of possibilities. Carlisle, functions as a mediator and rarely ever expresses a definitive stand until he believes he has heard all of the facts." He was far more honest that I would've suspected.

"I take it from your sister's looks at lunch that Friday's fiasco didn't make the scales tip in my favor?" He sighed.

"No. Has Billy told you when you are expected to leave school?" I frowned in confusion.

"Alice told you that?"

"That's part of the reason why she left. She believes that it might be beneficial for the situation. Her absence might assuage Billy's determination." He looked skeptical, so was I.

"Why is your family so certain that you won't approach me?"

"I caught on Alice's intentions quickly," Caught on, or heard them? Without needing her to voice them? My theory seemed more and more plausible by the minute. "I played the part accordingly they don't suspect I've taken a liking to you. The consensus is that I acted to protect my sister." I almost turned at his very unsentimental way of expressing himself.

"You've taken a liking to me? Are you sure those intense emotions won't ultimately betray your real intentions?" I don't know why I had to tease him but it felt right. He rolled his eyes and I smiled a little. Teasing him, even if just a little, was fun.

"I see no point in lying to you. I disagree with Billy Black's approach of shielding you from the truth or my sister's for waiting for the right time. It seems subjective and I have no patience for it. If you are searching for answers I see no point in denying them to you." He answered quite seriously, but knowing he wasn't really angry made it hard for me not to find it a little funny. He was too solemn for such a young person.

"Will you answer my questions then?" He was the only person who had openly offered that. He sighed.

"If I can, yes. What would you like to know?" My heart beat frantically and I contained my smile. He'd tell me what I wanted to know. Granted, maybe in a factual way but that was not important, they were answers.

"Everything." I said and to my absolute dismay, the bell rang. An entire class had gone by and I had heard nothing about it. Edward, on the other hand, had a perfect set of notes in front of him. I would worry about school later. For now, our time was up. I groaned and if I heard correctly, Edward chuckled.

"We will have to speak later." He said as he closed his notebook. I put away my unused things as well. His voice was still too low for anyone to hear. "I have no intention of getting caught again, so until we come up with a better system, this is the only way I can safely approach you without my family or yours realizing it." I rolled my eyes. There had to be another way. Perhaps a very common way?

"I can't even text you?" He'd done it before, so he must approve of it. He frowned.

"I will think about it. Can you hold your questions until then?" No.

"Yes." I said quite unconvincingly.

"Then I will let you know." He was done stalling and pretending to have a reason to linger in his desk. I felt the need to show him my appreciation for what he was doing.

"Thank you." He didn't smile; then again, he never reacted in a way I could predict.

"Be safe, Bella." He whispered, the classroom was half empty when he left. Mike was beside me in a flash. I hadn't noticed before, but for all the glaring, he never actually came close to where Edward was.

"Fuck this, I'm talking to Principal Greene or something they can't just make Cullen your lab partner." I contained my smile; I was so glad that had been the case. "Don't you think we should fight this?" Not at all.

"Let it go, Mike, at least we're still Gym partners." My smile was so genuine that his mood improved.

"Right, you're right." He said. "I'm sorry for you, Bella, I know Cullen isn't the nicest guy to be around of." Perhaps, but he was honest.

"I'll survive." I was in a good mood now. I didn't overlook the fact that Edward had once again radically changed my mood. Only for once, it was a pleasant change.

4. Edward

For the second time in the week I wondered how my sister had persuaded me into doing this. I had no more excuses left; I wasn't doing it to protect her. By now she was somewhere in Paris, shopping to her heart's content. This was exactly what I criticized of my father's parenting. How was Alice supposed to learn a lesson if her punishment for betraying his trust was a shopping spree in a European city? Atoning her errors one pair of shoes at a time. I was the guiltless one and yet I was bound to live with the consequences of her actions. The Quileute's newfound mistrust and Rosalie.

Carlisle had been quite graceful when facing the Quileutes, his anger would have been justified since we deceived him, but it was not the case. He simply wanted to understand why Alice decided to act in such a way. After that he expressed regret at the Quileute's view of our family and an invitation to listen to them to avoid another confrontation. Rosalie, who overreacted to the visit, decided that Carlisle ordered for us to not speak to Bella ever again. I disagreed. Vehemently.

Which brought me to my current predicament. I stared into the screen of my cell phone with Bella's phone number in it. Had I looked at it for half an hour? Forty five-minutes? Talking to her had been unadvisable, sending her a message held another meaning. I had no more excuses to placate my conscience, Alice was not here to use as a pretext yet I continued to search for an excuse to justify my esteem for the girl. I had no understanding, however, of what that meant. It had to be just rational curiosity. She was far too intriguing for her own good.

Alice had seen something. The dramatic display she offered on Saturday after the Quileutes approached us with their rather accurate accusations was not only to distract the others from my participation in the matter, but also to distract me from her train of thought. Hours later, she decided to leave. Assuring our father that being in proximity to Bella would be too tempting, she did not trust herself around her so she would have to retire to get some perspective. I knew she wanted me to stay out of her head; she became fixated with a particular thought, which was her way of leaving me out. However, it was clear she was hiding something of greater importance since to my surprise, Jasper had gone along with the plan. He, too, maintained his thoughts hidden from me. I did not understand this either.

Having other occupations, it was my job to drive Alice and Jasper to the airport as soon as they purchased their tickets. It was on the way that she revealed some of the truth to me.

"I need a favor, Ed." She said with a compelling smile. I could see Jasper in the rearview mirror, he was smiling. He thought everything his little monster did was adorable. I frowned.

"You see where doing you favors got me the last time, sister. So no. And don't call me Ed." Alice pouted.

"It's not a favor for me. It's for Bella." Granted, that did give pause to my immediate rebuttal. Jasper smiled but he became profoundly interested in some sport stats he had seen in the morning. I glared at him.

"Were you not here this weekend? We are to stay away from her, Alice. I will not put up with Rosalie's tantrums any longer. If that means to stay away from the girl, so be it." I was stubbornly determined to stay away from her. If only to show myself that I had some control over my curiosity.

"She will be miserable. Billy wants to take her away." For a moment my grip on the steering wheel faltered. If she left, it would be almost impossible to find her on my own. Assuming of course that I would do that at all. But then, I would never know.

"Where?" The question slipped. Jasper raised an eyebrow. Oh. He thought with surprise before turning his thoughts to sports. "Not that I care. We should stay away from their private matters." Where could he possibly take her?

"I hope that me keeping my distance will change Billy's mind. But if it doesn't, you have to tell Bella what's going on. So if we meet her again, she doesn't think we just left her." Would we meet her again? I was overcome with a surge of excitement, without the Quileutes as an impediment; approaching Bella would be exquisitely simple.

"It is not my business, Alice. If you want to say something to her find another form of communication. I won't talk to her."

Yes you will. She thought stubbornly and then thought of Jasper. I tuned her out quickly.

"She's going through a really hard time." My determination wavered, but I was stubborn.

"She will figure things out on her own." We did not speak for the remainder of the drive. I pulled the car over to provide an unnecessary assistance. Alice would be able to carry all of her suitcases by herself should she wish it. Jasper assisted her too, he understood, many of our interactions were based on habit rather than necessity. We had both been brought up in a world of manners, so we replicated them. Alice waited while we arranged her luggage around her. She was seeing ahead, always finding the same outcome, I would not speak to Bella Swan.

"Fine." She grumbled in defeat. "I see that I can't change your mind. But please take care of her, she is my friend." I nodded, that I could agree to. "I'll keep an eye out for you." She kissed my cheek and left.

My determination held most of Monday. I did not approach her in Spanish. I followed her through the minds of others since I thought it harmless. I was wrong, Alice had been correct, she was unhappy. Her disappointment grew, it was clear to me that she wanted to speak to my sister. When she didn't see her in Gym I hoped she would be furious, she was so easily enraged when we spoke. Surely seeing her anger would be simpler than seeing her upset. This didn't happen, she was sad now. I noticed how dark her eyes looked when she felt so dejected.

Affected, but still unable to surrender my resolve, I ignored her to the best of my ability. And then it was time for Biology. While my family knew I had to classes with Bella they thought I never spoke to her. Only Alice had known we were now Biology partners. A detail I managed to forget when Carlisle asked if an interaction at school was mandatory. More lies, how had I managed to lie so much to my father already and yet feel no remorse?

Bella walked in the classroom with the same downcast expression and regardless of the faint amusement I recognized briefly in her features as Mike Newton realized he would now be sharing his stupidity with another set of students, there was no real improvement. She sat next to me with no expectations, ready to ignore me as I was ignoring her. Her questions unanswered and her habitually expressive eyes forlorn. So I talked to her.

I sit here now, wondering how far would my poorly constructed arguments take me. I'd promised her answers I was not certain I could give. I was lying to my family as well. Yet I could not get the image of her saddened expression off my mind. And all other concerns seemed to pale in comparison. All she wanted were answers of the nature of her existence, I could understand that. My entire life was an endless inquiry of motives and purpose. Doubt was crippling and incertitude demonic.

Surely a glimpse into our world would benefit her greatly. She might then be able to understand more about herself. Another image was conjured up by my exhausted mind. How I was struggling with this. I remembered as if it was happening before my eyes, how happy she had been when she thanked me. The glimmer of her eyes was ignited once more simply because of a few words I was so reluctant to give. I was so selfish, I wanted to know about her and I had all the advantages. She on the other hand was alone. That was not acceptable.

I was halfway into writing a message for Bella when a text from my sister interrupted me.

_Told you so._

The stubborn streak in me demanded to be acknowledged.

_I could still change my mind. _

I wrote.

_You won't._

She was right.

I returned to Bella's message.

_Are you still interested in asking your questions?_

It took her less than a minute to answer.

_Always._

I could picture her excitement at reading this and the memory of her unmitigated joy earlier made me smile. The choice had been made. I had no care for qualifying my actions as right or wrong right now. They felt right, so I was unrepentant when I wrote:

_Ask me anything._

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**Hope you enjoyed it. Like where it's going? Thanks for reading. **

**As usual thank you Butterfly Wish for your awesome work! :D**


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